The summer days are long in Valley County Montana. The rugged country was mostly barren range land with the wind blowing constantly and some times harder. Suicide was not unusual among the wives of early settlers driven to deep depression by the isolation and hard conditions. Even in the summer of 2006 it was hard, wild, desolate country like nothing the girls from North Carolina had ever experienced.

Valley County was large; running north to the Canadian border from the Missouri River. Part of Fort Peck Indian Reservation covered the eastern quarter of Valley County along the Missouri River east of Glasgow, the county seat. Glasgow was a typical high plain county seat with a population of 1212 people out of the total county population of only 7349.

Jason Hartwell had grown up in Glasgow and joined the Army out of high school. He served as an MP for the last six years of his service and reached the rank of Master Sargeant by the time he went to Iraq . His last assignment was to Abu Grahaib Prison where he was in charge of a cell block for detainees being interrogated by contract civilians. He retired in 1974 at the time the custodial practices at the prison first came under investigation.

The same year Jason returned Glasgow, he hired on as one of ten deputies of the Valley County Sheriffs Department. In two years he had risen to Senior Duputy In Charge of the southern half of the county which included the Fort Peck Reservation. A major part of his duties was to maintain liason and coordinate with the Fort Peck Tribal Police.

This afternoon Jason and Big Bob Running Bear, the chief of the Indian police had been cruising the back roads off Montana Highway 438 along the western boundrie of the reservation. There had been reports of outlaws running beer and marijuana onto the reservation and they were looking for them. When t lawmen saw the girl's car in the distance, they speeded up to apprehend it. Pulling up close in the unmarked police cruiser, Jason sounded the siren.

The frightened girls slowed but continued driving realizing their danger. Ahead they saw a building and speeded up to reach it. The building turned out to be deserted: a weathered old clapboard church. The police car was beside them and forced them off into the church parking area. The girls hovered behind locked doors as two men with drawn guns approached either side of their car.

"Look what we have Big Bob ! The prettiest little covey of bootleggers I ever seen !" Both men laughed watching the girls.

"How we gonna flush this covey Jason ? They look guilty and scared shitless."

Jason pulled his wallet with his badge and showed the driver. " SHERIFF ! Come out of the car with your hands on your heads !'' He shouted. " GET OUT NOW OR I'LL BLAST THE DOOR OPEN AND DRAG YOU OUT !!" He aimed his pistol directly at Miriam Rosenzweig in the driver's seat.