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Low snow at the Many Glacier Hotel, March 24, 1973. (Mel Ruder photo)
70 years ago
June 20, 1947
The most popular blonde in Glacier National Park was Gertie, a blonde black bear that begged for food from cars along the Going-to-the-Sun Road. Gertie caused an estimated 30 traffic delays on the opening day of the Sun Road. The Park had a “record” opening day with 3,358 people going through the gates.
60 years ago
June 21, 1957
Stuart’s Motel Lake McDonald, which is just down the road from the Lake McDonald Lodge, added a second story. The Motel was built by F.O. Stuart of Conrad in 1955. The Glacier Park Co. was featuring summer stage plays starring actor Robin Short. Short was a well-known actor at the time and had been in more than 30 plays and movies.
50 years ago
June 23, 1967
Jobs were plentiful in the valley, with nearly 1,700 workers at the Anaconda Aluminum Co. plant and more than 1,200 at the Libby Dam project. The AAC jobs included about 989 working on the plant’s expansion. Glacier National Park was set to stock 120,000 5-inch cutthroat trout in Lake McDonald.
40 years ago
June 23, 1977
A milder spring and relatively dry winter had Glacier Park’s alpine trails opening about two weeks earlier than normal. Naturalist hikes to Grinnell Glacier were starting up and the Highline Trail from Logan Pass to Granite Park was open. Three Whitefish men were fined $300 for dynamiting fish in the Whitefish River near North Valley Hospital.
30 years ago
June 24, 1987
Whitefish taxidermist Mel Kastella was suing the Outlaw Inn for not properly taking care of a stuffed grizzly bear cub that was vandalized by a man during Canada Days at the Inn. The man tore the cub from its display, leaving its feet and rump behind, then went to another motel and threw it into a hot tub with other Canadian men. The stuffed bear was ruined as a result. The man was never caught, but Kastella claimed the Inn should have kept a better eye on the stuffed bear.
20 years ago
June 19, 1997
Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church in Columbia Falls celebrated its 50th year. Lewis Griggs, 46, of San Francisco was injured in a freak accident after a cottonwood tree fell on a Great Northern Resort raft he was in as it headed down the Middle Fork of the Flathead River. His 10-year-old son, Ian, and 15-year-old daughter, Ashley, were also injured in the accident, but not as severely as Griggs. Game warden Perry Brown of Columbia Falls was named Wildlife Officer of the Year by Safari Club International. The award acknowledged Brown’s expertise in using computers to develop a statewide case tracking system.
10 years ago
June 21, 2007
A Glacier Park inholder turned a couple of miles of the Quartz Lake Trail to mud because they drove on it to build a cabin on private land they owned in the Park. The vehicle traffic left deep ruts in the trail that filled with water. The Park Service allowed the Heylman family to drive on the old roadbed, which was then a trail, but urged them not to drive to the location when it was wet.