Yesterdays: Montana House in Apgar open for its first Christmas

70 years ago

Dec. 22, 1950

The Hungry Horse Dam contract held by General-Shea-Morrison was nearly exactly 50 percent complete. The Flathead Valley had shipped 1.35 million Christmas trees across the country. The trees were said to have superior needle holding ability.

60 years ago

Dec. 23, 1960

New shop in Apgar was opened by Mr. and Mrs. Hans Jungster. The Montana House is an Apgar institution today, owned by their daughter, Monica. The front page photo featured the shop, with the trees that surround the shop just saplings. Today, they tower over it.

50 years ago

Dec. 25, 1970

A white Christmas was expected with 8 inches of snow at the airport. The year before there was only an inch. Mrs. Robert Paul reported she watched a bald eagle grab a raven. The raven didn’t survive the encounter.

40 years ago

Dec. 25, 1980

Del E. Webb announced it was pulling out of a deal to buy Glacier Park Inc., the concessionaire that ran the lodges in Glacier National Park. The company cited high interest rates as a factor that killed the deal.

30 years ago

Dec. 20, 1990

Columbia Falls was near its centennial year, noted editor Emeritus Mel Ruder. The Great Northern Railroad reached the town on Dec. 16, 1891.

At the time, the North Fork was being promoted for its coal and timber. The timber panned out. The coal, did not.

20 years ago

Dec. 21, 2000

Students at Columbia Falls schools were learning the parenthood ropes with dolls that would simulate real babies — crying at all hours and such. The idea was to make teens think about parenthood before having children too early, like in high school. Jim Porteus had 35,000 Christmas lights on his Columbia Falls home.

10 years ago

Dec. 22, 2010

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said that the wolverine warranted listing under the Endangered Species Act, but wouldn’t get the protection, because there wasn’t enough funding.