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70 years ago

Feb. 7, 1947

Mail carrier Earl Ryan was on his way to the Trail Creek Post Office in the North Fork by snowmobile when he was confronted by a cow moose near McGee Meadow in Glacier National Park. The moose would not let him pass and charged the snowmobile, which was laden with mail, headed for the North Fork. Ryan shot the moose. That afternoon, assistant chief ranger Dick Nelson went up to investigate and was delayed two hours by another moose. It was estimated the Park had 182 moose.

60 years ago

Feb. 8, 1957

Heavy snow was bolstering the snowpack. Glacier Park headquarters saw 36 inches of snow in the first six days of February. The school district bought an additional 5 acres of land for the new Columbia Falls High School from the Anaconda Aluminum Co. for $1,271. That brought the total acreage of the campus up to 32 acres. A 10-pound bag of flour was 89 cents.

50 years ago

Feb. 10, 1967

Bills to move the Montana Veterans Home to the Galen Hospital were killed by the state legislature. Bids for the Libby Dam were set to open March 1. Crews were taking a break until spring on work to widen the west side tunnel on the Going-to-the-Sun Road. Waddell Construction Co. of Helena was doing the work. A wolverine that was live trapped by Ray Belston and Jim Wellnitz up the South Fork near Margaret Creek was being shipped to the Dakota Zoo at Bismark, North Dakota.

40 years ago

Feb. 10, 1977

The first known winter climb of Glacier Park’s Mount Cleveland was completed earlier in the week. It was summitted by Glen. H. Milner, Robert L. Talbot and Richard Olmstead, all in their 20s from the Jackson Hole, Wyo. area. They went up the West Ridge between the summit and Stoney Indian Peak and then the ridge to the top. What snow there was, was rotted and made for difficult travel. They reported seeing moose tracks high in the basin and many mountain goat tracks. They also spotted bear tracks. Light snow conditions made it easier. Cleveland is Glacier’s highest peak at 10,466 feet.

30 years ago

Feb. 11, 1987

Workers in Glacier National Park had spotted wolves at St. Mary Lake. One wolf was spotted feeding on an elk calf about 50 yards from the lake ice. Local musher Laurie Beckstrom was among the leaders of the 500-mile Governor’s Cup sled dog race. Beckstrom, the first woman in the race, was among seven leaders. Frank Shields, 34, escaped injury after his car collided with a freight train on the Truck Route. Shields said he didn’t see the train because of dense fog. There were no flashing lights at the crossing and Shields drove into the train, which crushed the front of his car.

20 years ago

Feb. 13, 1997

The mountain snowpack was near record levels, at 165 percent of average. Despite the deep snow, Glacier Park biologists were seeing bear tracks in the snow. Black bear cub tracks were spotted near Apgar Mountain and grizzly bear tracks were noted in the snow near Kintla Lake. Biologist Kate Kendall was preparing to count Glacier’s grizzlies bears by using DNA analysis. At the time, DNA technology was a new way to count and track bears.

10 years ago

Feb. 8, 2007

Glacier’s largest and deepest lake, Lake McDonald, had completely frozen over. It was the first time in 10 years. A trailer home owned by Derrell Hegel was destroyed by fire. Hegel wasn’t home, but his dog died in the blaze. An overheated extension cord was noted as the cause. Flathead County was considering a two-cent per gallon gas tax.