Dodson, Montana might be the smallest place I’ve passed through so far with just 126 people as of 2024. It still manages to make an impression though. Set along Montana’s Hi-Line region, it’s surrounded by wide-open prairies, golden fields, and an endless stretch of sky that somehow feels even bigger out here. There’s something peaceful about a place where you can see for miles and still hear yourself think.
The town was named after a merchant who once ran a trading post and saloon here, back before the Great Northern Railway came rumbling through. I imagine him watching the horizon from his front porch, waiting for the train to arrive.
Each July, Dodson hosts the Phillips County Fair, billed as Montana’s longest-running county fair. Not bad for a town with fewer residents than my high school homeroom.
Today, Dodson feels like it exists just slightly out of
time. No rush, no noise, just the hum of the wind across farmland. It’s a place
that holds on quietly while the world moves around it.
