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Hunting camp up the South Fork, Oct. 15, 1953. (Mel Ruder photo)
70 years ago
Oct. 29, 1948
Goldie, the black bear and her two cubs were part of a photo essay on page 1. The bear was well-known in Glacier Park for “bumming” food from motorists just above Avalanche Creek. Later, when traffic slowed, she moved up to Road Camp on the Going-to-the-Sun Road and cook Harry Freeze went after with a broom because she was sniffing at the screen door every time he took a pan of biscuits out of the oven. There’s no cabin at road camp today and feeding bears in Glacier is illegal.
60 years ago
Oct. 31, 1958
A feasibility study on whether or not to build the Spruce Park Dam was due out in March. Sen. Mike Mansfield said the project wouldn’t happen without strong local support. About 100 head of horses that were used as stock in the wilderness and other remote ranger stations were herded through Columbia Falls. The 100-mile trek would eventually find the horses on winter pasture near Perma, which is east of Plains.
50 years ago
Nov. 1, 1968
The Park Service bought two properties in Apgar — The Skyline Lodge and Motel for $115,000 and the Glacier Motel and Cafe for $48,200. Neither remain today. The Park Service also took title to the 542 acre McFarland Ranch north of Polebridge. The ranch was the largest inholding in the park at the time.
40 years ago
Nov. 2, 1978
Tragedy up Bunker Creek when Jeff Maher, 28, of Columbia Falls crashed his plane. Maher had been missing for a couple of days and was found by the ALERT helicopter crew. He was able to get out of the aircraft, but he later died in the snow not far away. The plane was upside down in moderate timber. It did not catch on fire.
30 years ago
Nov. 2, 1988
A human skull found by a logger between Olney and Whitefish had a .38-caliber bullet inside it — an indication of a murder. Problem was, Sheriff Chuck Rhodes noted, they didn’t know who had died, let alone who the killer might have been. Forensics on the skull showed it wasn’t a suicide, as the bullet entered the rear and the top of the head. Based on tooth wear, they estimated the victim was about 30 years old.
20 years ago
Oct. 29, 1998
Andy Baxter and his wife, Cas Still were finishing up restoring the Belton Chalet to its original grandeur in West Glacier. The couple started restoring the chalet about a year prior. The building was previously owned by the Luding family, which operated a bar and restaurant at the complex, but did not open the hotel. The couple said they were hoping the restoration effort would come in at under $1 million.
10 years ago
Oct. 30, 2008
Plum Creek settled out of court with several landowners who sued the company claiming it had polluted their household wells with formaldehyde. The Columbia Falls football team beat Whitefish 35-7 to earn a home game in the playoffs. The Cats would host 7-2 Corvallis in the first round of the playoffs. The Cats were led by quarterback Mitchell Wassam and running backs Mackey Nolan and John Woody.