No headline

70 years ago

Sept. 26, 1946

Great Northern employees picked a 72 acre lot north of Columbia Falls for a subdivision, “Vetville for Vets.” They looked at Whitefish, but property values were too high. Mel Ruder complained in an editorial that it cost $18 to replace every sign that was shot by someone with a gun. He asked people to stop shooting signs.

60 years ago

Sept. 21, 1956

The new F.H. Stoltze mill was now in operation. The mill was 200 feet long and 70 feet wide. It replaced a mill that was destroyed by fire in January. Forest fire danger was at a high point, as it was extremely dry for that time of year. There were 40 fires, 25 started by lightning and 15 man-caused fires. The fires were small, however. Glacier Park announced it was boarding up the Ptarmigan Tunnel — an annual rite — to keep the snow out.

50 years ago

Sept. 23, 1966

The Forest Service announced plans to extend the South Fork Road six miles to Meadow Creek Gorge. A ladies purse with $102.28 was found in the garbage in Glacier National Park. The woman called the Park and said she remembered throwing away some papers at the Quartz Creek campground. Ranger Al Hoover checked the garbage and found the woman’s purse. Harvey Kenneth Freeman, a Vietnam Veteran, survived a plunge into St. Mary Lake after he fell asleep, drove off the Sun Road and into the lake. His rig flipped upside down and took on water. Four feet either way and he would have drowned. As it was, he spent the night upside down in the lake until help arrived. The truck’s doors were jammed and wouldn’t open.

40 years ago

Sept. 23, 1976

Mary Patricia Mahoney, 22, of Highwood, Illinois was killed by a grizzly bear in the Many Glacier auto campground. The bear pulled her out of the tent and dragged her away in her sleeping bag. It was the first-ever grizzly mauling in an auto camp in the park. Park rangers later shot two grizzlies. Two other women in the tent with Mahoney were not injured. Jim Kanzler, Terry Kennedy and Steve Jackson successfully climbed the north face of Mount Cleveland, Glacier Park’s highest peak. They climbed within 300 feet of the summit on Sept. 14, spent the night on a ledge about and finished the ascent the next day, reaching the summit about 11 a.m.

30 years ago

Sept. 24, 1986

School District 6 was making plans for a consolidated Canyon School after the West Glacier School had burned down. Park ranger Brian Kenner ran into a grizzly on the Loop Trail that likely mauled two people the week before. The bear was not aggressive and though Kenner had a rifle, he did not shoot the bruin.

20 years ago

Sept. 26, 1996

Glacier Park’s general management plan was under fire from several different groups. An early frost had impacted gardens across the region. Morning temperatures had plummeted below 30 degrees several mornings in a row.

10 years ago

Sept. 21, 2006

Glacier Park was building a new transit center — what is now the visitor center — in Apgar. Rain and snow put the Sun Dog Fire up the North Fork out. Police were looking for suspects who raped an 85-year-old woman in Martin City. A 46-home subdivision was planned off Roger Road. The land was never developed.