Yesterdays: Tom Ladenburg entered into a conservation easement with the Nature Conservancy to protect over 1,000 acres of his North Fork property from subdivision.
Big Mountain Sno Cats visited Glacier National Park and went to Lake McDonald Lodge in March, 1957. Here they are parked in front of the caretaker’s cabin. (Mel Ruder photo)
70 years ago
Dec. 8 1950
The Nyack ranger station was staffed by Mr. and Mrs. Roy Hutchinson who said they were sharing the place with a flock of chickadees and a pine marten.
A contract to build the road leading to the Spotted Bear ranger station on the west side of the reservoir was up for bid. It was considered a “100 man job provider.”
The Big Mountain ski resort had 125 skiers use its rope tow on an early December Sunday.
60 years ago
Dec. 9 1960
Canyon Logging of Martin City, owned by Vern Cheff and Glen Kartheiser won the bid for a 1.5 million board feet timber sale in the Coram District of the Flathead National Forest.
The old St. Richard’s church, built in 1891 and still standing just east of Glacier Gateway Elementary, was being used as a Christmas wreath processing center by four Hoerner sisters.
Big Mountain was offering free rides on its brand new mile-long chairlift to celebrate the new lift’s opening.
50 years ago
Dec. 11 1970
Nationwide railway strikes were concerning the Anaconda Aluminum Company. Even though they had enough raw materials on hand to maintain production for several weeks, 30 of their 600 “pots” were down compared to their usual five or six.
The Flathead National Forest was seeing increased snowmobile use.
40 years ago
Dec. 11 1980
A grocery delivery truck headed for the Hungry Horse IGA blew through the guardrail of the South Fork bridge after avoiding a vehicle driving in the wrong lane. The truck’s cab hung precariously over the edge of the bridge, but the driver was unscathed.
B. James Jokerst, West Glacier wildlife artist, was elected chairman of the Glacier National History Association. The Association merged with the Glacier National Park Fund in 2013 to form what is now the Glacier National Park Conservancy.
30 years ago
Dec. 13 1990
A coalition was protesting the construction of a new $1.8 million, two-lane concrete bridge at Polebridge that would replace the one-lane wooden bridge located 100 yards downstream, citing that public comments in opposition to the project were ignored. The bridge was built and is what Park visitors currently cross today.
20 years ago
Dec. 14 2000
CFAC announced probable layoffs for about half of its 600 person workforce over the coming six months.
Tom Ladenburg entered into a conservation easement with the Nature Conservancy to protect over 1,000 acres of his North Fork property from subdivision. “It saves the elk, more or less,” Ladenburg said. “I don’t like helping environmentalists much, but they do have their good points too.”
10 years ago
Dec. 8 2010
A Columbia Falls man who had been living in his car froze to death.
The Columbia Falls City Council voted to instate a curfew ordinance that would prohibit minors from being out unchaperoned in public places during the hours of 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.