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70 years ago

Nov. 12, 1948

In the Army’s “308 report” it advocated for the Glacier View Dam, which would have dammed the North Fork of the Flathead and inundated about 20,000 acres of Glacier National Park. The story noted dams were needed in the Northwest for power. The estimated cost was $94 million for a 416-foot high earthen dam. It was, however, opposed by the Secretary of Interior and conservation groups, though it had local support.

60 years ago

Nov. 14, 1958

Big Mountain ski area was in its 11th winter and in four of those winters, they were skiing by Thanksgiving Day. The slope started operations on Dec. 19, 1947. Columbia Falls basketball was underway. They opened the season against Shelby and then played Sunburst. They were class B at the time.

50 years ago

Nov. 15, 1968

A contract for cloud seeding by the Bonneville Power Administration was let for $53,000 to North American Weather Consultants. The company would use ground-based silver iodide propane generators upwind of the target area in an attempt to cause more snowfall in the South Fork of the Flathead River drainage. Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks opposed seeding, saying it would dump snow into already thin elk wintering range.

40 years ago

Nov. 16, 1978

The Robert Burke residence on Columbia Falls Stage Road was destroyed by a fire. The total number of eagles on Glacier Park’s McDonald Creek reached an all-time high of 444.

30 years ago

Nov. 16, 1988

With a successful bond issue, construction of the new Flathead Valley Community College was set to begin in early 1989. Flathead County handed over sole ownership of the pole bridge over the Flathead River at Polebridge to the Park Service. The dilapidated bridge, which had been burned in the Red Bench Fire, would now be the Park Service’s to fix as it saw fit. A new bridge was estimated to cost $1.5 million.

20 years ago

Nov. 12, 1998

Bears were still active in Glacier. Hikers en route to Granite Park Chalet ran into a bear that was feeding on a carcass. Montanans for Multiple Use was protesting the removal of culverts on Forest Service roads. Three hikers got lost near Hidden Lake in the fog, so they burned money to start a fire to keep warm. They had a Bible, but one said they’d rather die than burn the book.

10 years ago

Nov. 13, 2008

Glacier Park was burning through funds to fix the Going-to-the-Sun Road faster than expected. A $50 million appropriation that was expected to last five years was now only going to last four as costs went up. Columbia Falls lost to Billings Central 27-13 in the quarterfinals on the state A football playoffs.