Do some due diligence and find out if the incoming flights were MTC delayed. Despite what NWA is telling you the MTC opperations are not going as smoothly as they want us to believe.

Once you have your facts you can press that much harder for significant compensation. If you can catch them in a lie you can really work the system. If I have time I'll call the station and ask someone there why a flight was delayed.

I did that once on a CO/NW flight combo and got a hotel and a voucher and a discount coupon. So it pays to stand up for yourself. It NEVER hurts to cultivate a friendship with a front line person at your home airport. One quick call and if they're working you can find out what the real story is. Often it's the same as the "Official" story but sometimes it isn't.

Good luck in your "quest"!