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70 years ago

Sept. 24, 1948

Glacier Park crews were set to board up the Ptarmigan Tunnel, which goes through the Ptarmigan Wall and connects the Many Glacier and Belly River by trail. Without the boards the tunnel filled with snow. Today, the tunnel has big doors that are closed each fall. Six bulldozers were working to clear the Hungry Horse Reservoir of trees in preparation for the Hungry Horse Dam.

60 years ago

Sept. 26, 1958

About one in four hunters in the Bob Marshall Wilderness reported getting an elk. There was hope that an antibiotic treatment, called acti dione, would be successful in treating blister rust in Glacier Park’s white pine and white bark pine trees. The park had tried various treatments prior, including eradication of currant bushes, which were thought to host the fungus. None of the treatments worked — many of the white bark pine are dead today, though the park has had some success in planting trees that are genetically resistant to the disease.

50 years ago

Sept. 27, 1968

Sampling a 290 square mile area in Glacier National Park found that there was one grizzly bear for every seven or eight square miles. Based on that, biologist Cliff Martinka estimated there were about 175 grizzlies roaming Glacier’s hills. The School District 6 board bought 25 acres of land for $500 an acre from Eldon Clare. The land would eventually be the site for the new high school. Mel Ruder was school board chairman at the time.

40 years ago

Sept. 28, 1978

Mel Ruder sold the Hungry Horse News to Sage publishing of Co. of Wyoming. Brian Kennedy, one of the son’s of Sage partner and president, Bruce Kennedy, would become the editor of the Hungry Horse News. Ruder started the paper on Aug. 8, 1946. One condition of the sale was that the printing plant at the Hungry Horse News be enlarged.

30 years ago

Sept. 28, 1988

The Wildcats lost to Libby 13-12 after they missed an extra point. The loss probably dashed their post season football hopes, as they were now 0-2 on the young season, with four games left to play. Jack Hemmer, a Columbia Falls School teacher and coach, died of a heart attack at age 43. He taught physics and math and was a freshman football coach.

20 years ago

Sept. 24, 1998

The Krell family celebrated 25 years of owning the Shop-in-Stop store on Railroad Street. The store is no more today. It was converted back into apartments after the store sat idle for several years after changing hands. Jill Steiner was lamenting that she threw away a lottery ticket she thought had the winning numbers for a $50,000 jackpot.

10 years ago

Sept. 25, 2008

Flathead County Commissioners approved placing a $10 million open space land and water conservation bond on the November ballot. The measure would fail at the polls. A study said the Hungry Horse Dam could withstand a substantial earthquake, if there was one.