Category: Retreat Locales

I’ve completed the “State by State” level analysis series that I posted earlier in the month. For ease of reference, this data is now archived at the Retreat Areas static page. (See the new button in the SurvivalBlog navigation bar.) I’m now moving on to providing detailed retreat locale recommendations. While I’m posting these, please give this some serious thought. Particularly for those of you living east of the Mississippi and for our overseas readers, I would appreciate you sharing your expertise. If you know of a particular region with retreat potential, please e-mail me the details, and I will …

Concentrate on small towns north of the reservation line, such as Bigfork, Creston, Proctor, Rollins, and Somers. On Staying Outside the Reservation: Much of the lower elevations in this region are inside the boundaries of the Flathead Indian Reservation. The united Salish and Kootenai (“S&K”) tribal government has been forcefully asserting its sovereignty in recent years, affecting both tribal members and everyone else living inside the reservation boundaries. (Even deeded property owners!) If you want to buy land in this region, buy land that is beyond the reservation boundaries but that is still at low elevation. This you will have …

Hello from Pleasanton, California! I too look at the hills and envision the populations of Hayward, Oakland, et al. swarming over into our little valley in the event of disaster. So we have a “ten-year plan” to purchase and stock a “vacation home” in NE Oregon. I have been looking long-distance at the Wallowa Valley. Do you have any particular objection to planning on freshwater lakes as a fallback source of water? (I am thinking of Wallowa Lake.) Just wondering what may have pushed you to choose the Grande Ronde valley over the Wallowa. You may wish to link to …

James Wesley– I admire and deeply appreciate the detailed counsel you have been giving about self-sufficiency and defense. After I borrowed “Patriots” from the library, I went ahead and paid $50 for a used copy. We became “First Family” members at Front Sight on your say-so, even though we are in Hawaii and can’t even attend Front Sight until 8/2006. So I think I merit being heard with respect to your musing that being a non-Mormon in a Mormon community might make you “expendable”. To the contrary, the unbelievably magnificent efforts in time, people and materiel of the LDS Church …

Jim– Just a few nits to pick (grin), RE: “A draconian business gross receipts tax of 2-to-3%. Marginal gun laws. Very high sales tax. (8.8%)” Can’t disagree with draconian. Can disagree with the B&O rates, slightly. They depend completely on the type of business. My business is taxed at 1.5%. Sales taxes vary per county over a very wide range. Gas tax is $0.28 per gallon. Just for fun, check out this link for “major” taxes in the Evergreen state. Yikes. http://dor.wa.gov/content/taxes/MajorTaxes.aspx There are also more than a few badges (not obvious, but there nonetheless if you know what to …

Greetings Jim, I’m writing to give you more information on Iowa. While it’s true we’re too close to Chicago there are only a few handfuls of bridges to cross the Mississippi. These can be blocked by backing semi-trailers onto the spans and abandoning the trailers in rows. Crossing a bridge blockaded in such a fashion, guarded by a few dedicated snipers, makes removal of the barricades a more than interesting proposition! No mob is hard-core enough to attempt removal, or crossing on foot for more than a few minutes, before moving on to a new path of lesser resistance. Field …

Jim, I am enjoying your blog site a lot. I am a big fan of your work, and I especially enjoyed your novel, Patriots. I appreciate the advantages of the western states when the balloon goes up; but some of your readers are going to be tied to the populated east coast and mid-western states. Please take some time after your western state series to give some advice to those of us who will (or must) stay for family, as well as other reasons in the less advantageous areas of the country. Sincerely, – C.G. in Ohio JWR Replies: I’m …

Wyoming: Population: 493,780. Population Density: 5 per square mile (Rank 19 of JWR’s top 19 states). Area: 97,800 square miles (rank 9 of 50). Average car insurance cost: $646/yr. (rank 44 of 50). Average home insurance cost: $484/yr. (rank 20 of 50). Crime Safety Ranking: 7 of 50. Boston T. Party’s State Firearms Laws Ranking: 93%. Per capita income: $27,372 (rank 28 of 50). ACT & SAT Scores Ranking: 16 of 50. Plusses: Low population density, very low crime rate, no income tax. Low car insurance rates. Minuses: Brutally cold winters, especially at higher elevations. Minimal growing season. (Snow has …

Washington: Population: 5.9 million. Population Density: 86.6 per square mile (Far less in the eastern half of the state!) Very high population density (by western U.S. standards.) (Rank 3 of JWR’s top 19 states). Area: 68,100 square miles (rank 20 of 50). Average car insurance cost: $803/yr. (rank 19 of 50). Average home insurance cost: $428/yr. (rank 31 of 50). Crime Safety Ranking: 30 of 50. Boston T. Party’s State Firearms Laws Ranking: 57%. Per capita income: $31,230 (rank 11 of 50). ACT & SAT Scores Ranking: 10 of 50 (tied with Oregon). Plusses: Low property taxes in some of …

Utah: Population: 2.23 million. Population Density: 26.2 per square mile (Rank 11 of JWR’s top 19 states). Area: 84,900 square miles (rank 11 of 50). Average car insurance cost: $718/yr. (rank 32 of 50). Average home insurance cost: $378/yr. (rank 43 of 50.) Crime Safety Ranking: 14 of 50. Boston T. Party’s State Firearms Laws Ranking: 76%. Per capita income: $23,436 (rank 44 of 50). ACT & SAT Scores Ranking: 7 of 50. Plusses: A great state to live in if you are a LDS (Mormon) Church member. On average Utah has the best prepared families in America. (By church …

Dear Mr. Rawles, Having read your retreat advice I’m planning a road trip through Montana and Idaho for November to scout around for a new home and maybe a new job (I’m a high school history teacher). Still, I can’t help but wonder: with the increasing profile of the blog and its ever-greater circulation, won’t greater numbers of survival-minded people moving to the ID/MT area degrade its qualities and reduce it to the same mess we’re all trying to escape/avoid? I got to thinking that when an Idaho resident & survivalist online told me, “Don’t come here, we don’t want …

Having just left South Dakota after 16 years there, I might add concerning the cold and short growing season: 20 below for weeks on end, pretty hefty wind on top of that, and a 90 day growing season if you are lucky. One year I had to replant beans 3 times, the last after they were snow killed in June. Another drawback for the state is lack of potable water. My well put out 5 GPM and was considered a good well and at it was 300 feet deep, to boot. The majority of the water there is very alkaline, …

Texas: Population: 20.8 million. Population Density: 77.9 per square mile (Rank 4 of JWR’s top 19 states). Area: 266,800 square miles (rank 2 of 50). Average car insurance cost: $759/yr. (rank 25 of 50). Average home insurance cost: $880/yr. (rank 1 of 50). Crime Safety Ranking: 41 of 50. Boston T. Party’s State Firearms Laws Ranking: 82%. Per capita income: $27,752 (rank 24 of 50). ACT & SAT Scores Ranking: 47 of 50. Plusses: Has a high rating in “education freedom” (ranked #6 of 50), since Texas has relaxed home schooling laws, but the public schools are far below average. …

Sir: Can you be more detail oriented and give us your opinion on some of the factors you have mentioned previously? Which areas in the West are not potential deserts and have natural un-irrigated water supplies? Which areas are sufficient wood available? Which have the least population density? I have thought Modoc County, CA would meet this requirements. How about you? – R.Y. JWR Replies: Modoc County has much more harsh winters and a shorter growing season than California’s northern coastal counties. You might be better off on the western slopes of the Yolla Bollies. This region is just as …