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70 years ago
May 7, 1948
Park ranger Roy Hutchison witnessed a grizzly bear grab a cow elk, break its back and kill it near Nyack Falls. It was a rare sight. Hutchison said he heard a scream and then saw the bear on the elk from just 60 feet away. Back then it was estimated the Park had about 100 grizzlies and 3,300 elk. The incident took place off an interior trail.
60 years ago
May 9, 1958
Snow plows on Glacier’s Going-to-the-Sun Road had made it to Logan Pass and were working on the big drift just east of the pass. The snow depths were about average, said Max Edgar, park engineer. Crews worked two shifts — 4 a.m. to noon and from noon to 8 p.m. A Java Temple bird was spotted in Glacier. The bird was suspected of being someone’s pet and had escaped. A new contract with Anaconda Aluminum was signed. Custodians and laborers would make $2.16 an hour.
50 years ago
May 10, 1968
Glacier National Park was expected to get a new topographic map. The last map was made in 1938. Eight crewman from the U.S. Geological Survey were going to be on hand to survey the Park. They would also work with a helicopter. The first concrete was set to be poured for the Libby Dam.
40 years ago
May 11, 1978
Glacier National Park had a black bear along the Camas Road that would bite car tires. The bear bit through one car tire and put bite marks in another of a woman who stopped to watch the bear. This was believed to be the first issue where a bear had bitten through a car tire, though the story noted there was a black bear about 20 years earlier that had bitten a sprinkler. Glacier was also going to start a survey of whether any truly native trout still existed in its waterways.
30 years ago
May 11, 1988
Glacier Park plows were at Logan Pass, but avalanches had come down near Triple Arches. The park was anticipating a late May opening of the entire Going-to-the-Sun Road. The U.S. Postal Service paid $104,000 for 1.72 acres of land that consisted of several lots for a new post office on Nucleus Avenue. That was a lot of money at the time.
20 years ago
May 7, 1998
A sign along U.S. Highway 2 near the turnoff to West Glacier was ordered down by the Montana Transportation Commission because the bill board was in a scenic corridor. But the owner of the billboard, James Rowe, vowed to fight the ruling. The billboard was never taken down and today it advertises a raft company.
10 years ago
May 8, 2008
Carl, Bill and Josh Radabah rescued a cow elk on April 25 that had fallen through a pond near Coram. They were able to get a rope around the neck of the elk and pull it up onto an area where the ice was thicker. They warmed the elk up with their coats and about 45 minutes later, he walked off into the woods.