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Don and Grace Barnum near the Ptarmigan Tunnel in this undated photo. (Mel Ruder photo)
70 years ago
May 2, 1947
Glacier Park’s 45 horses and 21 mules were given their summer assignments. Dude, a 25-year-old horse assigned to the Many Glacier Ranger Station, once followed ranger A.D. Cannavina over a log across the Belly River. The ranger found the river too deep to ford, so he left the horse and crossed on the log. But the horse didn’t want to be left alone and crossed behind him. The average Park mule weighed 800 pounds and carried 200-pound loads across rugged terrain.
60 years ago
May 3, 1957
The Kalispell Army Reserve unit used a 75 mm gun to try to break loose a cornice on Piegan Mountain above the Going-to-the-Sun Road. It didn’t budge. “That cornice up there is like a block of concrete,” said Richard Stillman, a Forest Service avalanche forecaster. A lone swan that frequented McDonald Creek in Glacier last year was back this year, the Park reported. The A&W in Columbia Heights celebrated its grand opening.
50 years ago
May 5, 1967
Camp Misery (Noisy Basin) had a record 153 inches of snow and Glacier Park plowing of Going-to-the-Sun Road was delayed because of the cool spring. Democrat LeRoy Anderson blasted the GOP for supporting a sales tax. T-bone steaks were 98 cents a pound.
40 years ago
May 5, 1977
The famed Giefer grizzly was killed up Wigwam Creek in British Columbia. Ray Koontz, 61, of Pennsylvania, legally shot the bear, which was 9 feet, 2 inches long. Ear tags identified the bruin. All told, the bear broke into about 25 cabins in the North Fork and was considered “Public Enemy No. 1” at one point. He grew smarter as he aged and was impossible to catch. Even with elaborate traps, the bear took the bait and got away. Koontz shot the bear four times with a .380 Magnum.
30 years ago
May 6, 1987
Film taken from photographer Charles Gibb’s camera showed 40 photos of grizzlies before a sow grizzly killed the Libby photographer on Elk Mountain in Glacier National Park. Glacier Park officials said Gibbs was “extremely close” to the bears when the sow turned on him. Gibbs was taking pictures of the bear and her three cubs. The last picture Gibbs took, frame 17, didn’t show the bear charging at him. The newspaper ran a gallery of wildlife photos that Gibbs had taken over the years.
20 years ago
May 1, 1997
Candace Haas was named “Junior Miss” and received a $900 scholarship and one-year tuition to Flathead Valley Community College. Junior Miss was a pageant that showcased Columbia Falls girls’ talents. Agencies were preparing for spring floods, as snowpack was at 160 percent of average.
10 years ago
May 3, 2007
Glacier Park prepared to repair Sun Road after fall floods had damaged the highway. The largest repair was a 100-foot washout near the East Side Tunnel. Bobby Pearce and Chase Fairbank both cleared 6-4 in the high jump at the Whitefish A.R.M. track meet.