A great story, and one that resonates deeply with me. I grew up in a relatively large town compared to Napoleon--3000 and a county seat. My first school was a two-room schoolhouse six miles from town with about 20 students. The surrounding area was quite a bit more unpopulated than the area around Napoleon, with much less water closer to the Canadian border. High school was bigger--there were 85 in my graduating class.

After moving to town in the sixth grade, I discovered Ham Radio. This turned out to be the precursor to what became the internet. Folks met lifelong friends, talked to people around the world, helped with public safety. I know a couple who met on Ham Radio and eventually got married. This all happened on Morse Code.

There are a few classmates that I have stayed in touch with over the years, largely thanks to the internet. Class reunions were a bit enlightening, as after I left for University in Chicago, my life seriously diverged. Some of my classmates are still there--one now lives with next door to the house she grew up in. I felt like I had been shot out of a cannon to a different time and place. I was eager to see other parts of the world, and didn't feel the same sense of local community that the author of the article did.

For further evidence of life in rural areas and small towns, see https://books.google.com/books?id=7Nv6BQ74lsIC&pg=PA25&lpg=P..., wherein Margaret Stafford lives 21 miles from the nearest pavement, 84 miles from Miles City, population 8461. From amazon, http://www.amazon.com/Miles-Nowhere-Americas-Contemporary-Fr.... He tells of the social shock of a student who first goes to a small rural school (check) then to high school (check). I experienced a third social shock going to the University near Chicago.

Another tale of rural life is told in Breaking Clean by Judy Blunt: http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Clean-Judy-Blunt/dp/037570130.... (Off topic is the description of the bad winter she describes against which all other winters are measured.)

Here is a link to the book (http://www.amazon.com/Miles-Nowhere-Americas-Contemporary-Fr...), an initial google search turns up unrelated things.