Yesterdays: Roll up those pants for a picture
Mrs. and Mrs George Green of Coram with Grandma Ellen Green. Ellen Green came to Columbia Falls in 1908. Thre Greens were married in 1900 in Garvin, Minnesota. Grandma Green was 94 in this picture. She came to Columbia Falls with her husband, Henry, who died in 1914. This photo was taken July 9, 1950. (Mel Ruder photo)
70 years ago
June 30, 1950
A railroad strike was threatening progress at the Hungry Horse Dam, as cement for the project had stopped by rail. Trucks were hauling in cement, but that only amounted to a third of what was needed. The Switchmen’s union was striking.
60 years ago
July 1, 1960
Editor Mel Ruder took off his socks and shoes and rolled up his pants to get a shot of Canada Prime Minister John G. Diefenbaker fishing in a pond in Glacier National Park. There was a big rainbow trout feeding near a beaver lodge, but Diefenbaker couldn’t get it to bite. The prime minister was in Many Glacier as part of the national governor’s conference.
50 years ago
July 3, 1970
Search efforts continue for men who were swept away while climbing Glacier National Park’s Mount Cleveland the previous winter. A search was conducted in January, but halted due to bad weather and snow. Now Park crews had found two men — Ray Martin and James Anderson, but three still hasn’t been recovered — Jerry Kanzler, Mark Levitan and Clare Pogreba. The men were trying to climb the Park’s highest peak when they were swept away in an avalanche. It remains to this day the greatest single tragedy in Glacier Park history.
40 years ago
July 3, 1980
There were plans to pave the North Fork Road to Camas Creek from the end of the current paving, but that depended on whether the project was determined to negatively impact grizzly bears, Flathead Forest Supervisor John Emerson said. The county had plans to pave a section between Coal Creek and Hay Creek. Today that section is paved, but the other section was never paved.
30 years ago
June 28, 1990
Crews were replanting seedlings in the old Red Bench burn of 1988. About 285,000 trees were planted on 660 acres of burned area. The fire burned more than 30,000 acres. Most trees grew back on their own — in fact the area is primed for fire again today.
20 years ago
June 29, 2000
A black bear mauled a man in Two Medicine. Glacier Park rangers had plans to trap and kill the bear if they could. Black bear maulings in the park are quite rare. Brian Jason Sanson eventually fought the bear off with his keys as a weapon.
10 years ago
July 1, 2010
Environmental groups said if the North Fork Road was paved to Camas, it would likely violate federal law. The law, which dated back to 1966, says that a federal road project can’t harm a national park and they viewed paving the road as being detrimental to Glacier National Park.