No headline
Dwight Grist and his wife work on juniper dolly varden fishing plugs in April 26, 1953. Mrs. Grist is dipping the plugs in varnish. Grist started making plugs from juniper in 1931. He got the wood from near Polebridge. Grist lived in Columbia Falls, but then moved to Apgar. Today there is a Grist a Road in Glacier. (Mel Ruder photo)
70 years ago
April 29, 1949
Townsfolk were turning out to clear land in Columbia Falls donated by Boots Schoenberg for a new city park two blocks off Nucleus Avenue. It would feature a sledding hill and a skating rink. The park is still there today and kids still sled on the hill.
60 years ago
May 1, 1959
Crews were working double shifts to clear the Going-to-the-Sun Road of snow. The first shift started at 4 a.m. to noon and the second from noon to 8 p.m. Glacier Park had a “show me” day where the public could watch the plows scheduled for May 11. Anaconda Aluminum Co. employees were considering a contract where they’d get, on average, a raise of 8.23 cents per hour.
50 years ago
May 2, 1969
Glacier National Park announced it would ban all water skiing on its lakes effective May 15. The park said that water pollution from outboards and waves from the skiing were its main concerns. Skiing at the time was only allowed on Lake McDonald and St. Mary Lake. Columbia Falls share of the Cedar Creek Dam expenses was about $103,000. The dam, which was for flood control, would also increase the city’s water supply at the time. The dam still exists today, but the city gets its water from wells.
40 years ago
May 3, 1979
Glacier National Park had approved five sites for filming the Michael Cimino movie “Heaven’s Gate.” They included Big Prairie, Two Medicine Lake campground and parking area, Sherburne Lake and Kintla Lake. The Highway 2 bridge at the Goat Lick was postponed for a year. The bridge at the Goat Lick was destroyed by an avalanche earlier in the winter. A temporary bridge was put in so traffic could get over the creek at the lick.
30 years ago
May 3, 1989
An open pit dump in St. Mary would be cleaned up, Glacier Park officials announced. The site included old fuel tanks and an assortment of other junk inside the Park. Park employees had blown the whistle on the dumpsite, prompting the cleanup. Wolf researcher Bob Ream said a female wolf had been in the same area for about a week, an indication that the Camas Pack was going to den inside Glacier Park. If successful, it would be only the third known litter in recent history in the park — the other two were found in 1986 and 1987. Prior to that, it had been at least 50 years since a wolf was known to den in Glacier, as wolves were killed and poisoned by hunters and trappers across the West.
20 years ago
April 29, 1999
Veteran journalist and Hungry Horse News founder Mel Ruder was on the mend after he suffered a stroke earlier in the month. Ruder was 84. Some kids stole a checkbook over spring break and then wrote $900 in checks, though the biggest check they wrote was $85 for one item.
10 years ago
April 30, 2009
Josephine Doody, known as the “bootleg lady of Glacier National Park” finally had a headstone at Conrad Cemetery in Kalispell. Historian John Fraley was able to track down her grave and have the stone placed to commemorate her.