Yesterdays

60 Years Ago

Sept. 7, 1951

Columbia Falls officials were told by Gov. John Bonner that, along with Eureka, Rexford, Red Lodge, St. Ignatius, Bear Creek, Fromberg and four-fifths of Helena, the city's water was not safe to drink. Talk during a special meeting focused on chlorinating the water from Crystal Creek springs, three miles outside of town.

In an editorial, Mel Ruder noted that if teenagers wanted to drink beer at home, "that's essentially a family affair." But they shouldn't be allowed to sit on the front steps of the high school smoking cigarettes, or light up in the hallways during basketball games. Smoking is not a moral issue, Ruder said, it's a habit, and he referred to casual smoking by school staff as setting a bad example.

50 Years Ago

Sept. 8, 1961

In an unusual accident on Route 1A, a 10-year-old boy was accidentally run over by his father. The father driving a pickup truck trying to push-start a car. The boy and his brother were sitting on the bumper of the car when it suddenly started, causing the boy to fall off into the path of the pickup truck. The boy underwent surgery for five hours for a fractured pelvis, a fractured left elbow, lacerations and abrasions.

Hungry Horse News editor Mel Ruder was one of two Montanans chosen to work with the Bonneville Power Administration on a study of economic growth in the Pacific Northwest. Ruder had worked as an assistant professor at the University of North Dakota and was president of the Montana Press Association in 1957-58.

40 Years Ago

Sept. 10, 1971

Glacier National Park officials announced plans to build a 3,720-foot long boardwalk from the Logan Pass parking lot to the Hidden Lake Overlook area. Park superintendent William Briggle said use of asphalt or red rock would affect the drainage of the area, and the wood would over time weather to a natural color. The goal was to keep people off the fragile alpine meadows.

Park ranger Art Sedlack forecast a better huckleberry crop at higher elevations that would benefit grizzly bears, assuming no killing frost. So far, 18 black bears had been trapped and released and another seven had been killed - three accidentally and one hit by a visitor's car.

30 Years Ago

Sept. 10, 1981

A 34-year-old Wisconsin man survived a 200-foot fall in Glacier Park when he slipped on mossy rock near Redgap Pass in the Many Glacier area. He was transported by Kruger Helicopter to Many Glacier after his brother hiked out to notify authorities.

A district board took over the water system in Martin City owned by Wes Johnson. Merle Shupe, of Martin City, paid Johnson $10,000 for the water system and gave it to the board. Another $8,000 is owed. The district water board will operate the system and bill customers and pay back Shupe.

20 Years Ago

Sept. 5, 1991

Local residents streamed into the Columbia Falls police station to reclaim property stolen by five teenagers responsible for more than 200 burglaries in the area. The young thieves included two girls, 13 and 14 years old, two boys, 16 and 17 years old, and one 19-year-old boy, all of Columbia Falls. Most of the property was hidden at five locations in the woods, but a .44 magnum pistol was thrown in the Flathead River.

Three Idaho residents escaped serious injury when their vehicle flew off U.S. 2 and landed upside down on the Flathead River. The 1989 Ford coupe replica was traveling 100 mph and broke off three trees about 20 feet in the air before landing in the water.

A couple on Columbia Drive played loud music to scare away raccoons but instead drew the police. They had placed a radio in their garden to keep the animals away from their corn. They turned down the volume after neighbors complained.

10 Years Ago

Sept. 6, 2001

As the 58,000-acre Moose Fire continued its run across the North Fork, fire experts predicted the burning would end when cooler weather and rain came. But there were no immediate forecasts for rain or cooler weather.

Water quality in Flathead Lake has steadily declined over the past two decades, according to a report delivered at the Flathead Basin Commission's meeting in Kalispell. The report called for stricter levels for non-point pollution sources.