Flatwillow

The Johnke and Pugrud families live along the rimrocks above Flatwillow. In 2000, their town was slated for removal from the map. Word got out and residents spoke up.

“Hey, we're still here,” Flatwillow native Jim Johnke responded.

The town of Flatwillow was a bustling stagecoach stop for people traveling westward. In the late 1800's, the town had a store, a bank, a saloon, and a rural school. At its heyday the community hall hosted a dance once a month.

Today the town clings to life like tumbleweed to a barbed wire fence. Only two families remain: the Johnkes and the Pugruds. Their homestead roots run deep in Flatwillow and neither could accept the town's removal from the map. The community preserved the old community hall and began hosting an annual community dance- like those of the hall's heyday- as a fundraiser for the hall.