General Stores were born out of necessity during the frontier days, for many pioneers who lived outside of urban markets. Many of the owners of general stores got their start as traveling peddlers. Once they had accumulated enough cash and inventory, they would look to establish themselves in more permanent locations at settlements with a need, and where they deemed a profit would be easy to come by. The original owner of the Glendive General Store, would have seen the community as one of those hotspots as it was a railroad town.

The General Store often took on multiple roles as it was common for it to be the only local provider of “store-bought goods. The post office was often housed within General Stores, and townspeople often also considered it to be the social center of the community.

Such was the case for the Glendive General Store, as it was also the Pool Hall for the community. Like most pool halls in the 1920’s, this was where folks would purchase good old fashioned, “bootleg beer.” The local store clerk at the time was Anne Sorenson, who was married to the owner’s son, Barney.

Anne recalled a day that stuck out to her, when federal agents raided the place–”they must have been acting on a tip from some law-abiding local.” There wasn’t much she could do. The bottles of contraband beer were taken out back and broken one by one. Anne watched as a good deal of the family’s income was broken, bottle after bottle. “Say,” she remarked to one of the agents, “You wouldn’t save a couple of those for a thirst gal, would ya?” The agent smiled and set two bottles aside, and a bad day ended a little less bad.