No headline
Homecoming queen candidates in 1959. This photo was not published, but an alternate view, which cropped out the driver, was. From left are Mary Lou Collins, Rita Anders, Donna Rae Ridenour and Sandra Westre. Driving the rig is Bill Lokken.
70 years ago
October 24, 1946
Twenty-six tracts of land in Vetville on Columbia Fall’s north side were purchased by Great Northern Railroad employees; the new owners had plans for “modern, summer or permanent homes in the addition.” An estimated 128 Great Northern employees were expected to settle in the Vetville area. Hunters up the South Fork bagged 154 elk in nine days. In recognizance of Navy Day, Rear Admiral Joseph J. Clark spoke to 7th and 8th graders, high school students, and interested townspeople at an assembly.
60 years ago
October 19, 1956
Power production and water output at Hungry Horse Dam was increased. Power output was peaking at 330,000 kilowatts compared to the 285,000-kilowatt rated capacity of the Hungry Horse generators. The first three days of hunting season saw a take of 200 elk. The South Fork checking station alone saw 1,090 hunters. A manhunt was conducted in Glacier Park for Leonard James, a Canadian Indian wanted for crossing the border illegally as well as stealing a horse, saddle, rifle and revolver from the Roy Williams ranch, east of St. Mary.
50 years ago
October 21, 1966
An “adverse market,” particularly for plywood, led to layoffs at Kalispell’s C&C Plywood Corp., bringing employment down from 250 employees to 110. Plum Creek Timber Co. President Lawrence Rude was concerned about the poor lumber market. A settlement agreement was being worked on in the suit against Glacier National Park by Lloyd Parratt and his son, Smith. Smith was attacked and seriously injured by a grizzly bear in 1960 when he was 10 years old. The suit originally sought $540,000.
40 years ago
October 21, 1976
Reconstruction of the Superior Building sawmill was scheduled for the coming week. The building had been destroyed by fire a couple of days before. Cost of repairs was estimated to be between $400,000 and $500,000. The new Wild Scenic Rivers Act, a federal law, designated 219 miles of the Flathead’s three forks as wild, scenic and recreational rivers.
30 years ago
October 26, 1986
Extra rangers were scheduled to be on patrol in Apgar for the weekend for a demonstration by radical environmentalist group Earth First! The application submitted by the group suggested between 20 and 30 people would be in the park handing out fliers and protesting. Earth First! was protesting the Park’s research methods, namely the use of helicopters in monitoring grizzly bear populations. David Arthur “Dogmeat” Smith of Missoula had vowed earlier in the month to dive-bomb the Park’s bald eagle concentration if the park did not stop using helicopters. The bald eagle tally in the park had climbed to 206. A funding vote for a new consolidated school in the Canyon was scheduled for Dec. 16.
20 years ago
October 24, 1996
Kyle Schoepf of Lake Blaine was hunting pheasants at Ninepipe Reservoir when he was charged by a 450-pound grizzly bear sow. With only a few seconds to react, Schoepf shot the bear in the neck with his shotgun at point-blank range- the bear was no more than 2 feet from the end of the muzzle. Schoepf contacted authorities, and upon returning to the scene, the bear was found dead in the brush. Glacier National Park officials were trying a new method of aversion conditioning to keep bears away from human habitations. After a black bear sow and two cubs were captured near the west entrance, the mother was shot with a shotgun loaded with beanbag rounds in the hopes that memories of a painful experience would make her, and her cubs, steer clear of human-inhabited areas. The beanbag-bullets may have saved all three bears’ lives, as second and third chances were not historically given to black bears.
10 years ago
October 19, 2006
Columbia Falls High School alum Joe Bereta’s comedic talent paid off when he signed a deal to write for NBC. Bereta and his partner, Luke Barats, signed on to to write a pilot TV episode for the network. A $300,000 grant was “all but secured” for water quality monitoring on the North Fork River, due to the threat of a Canadian coal mine looming north of Glacier National Park.