Yesterdays: Grizzly mauls three on Otokomi Lake Trail
Dr. Gilson and Dr. Bean of Great Falls and their families at Granite Park Chalet, July 23, 1950.
70 years ago
July 21, 1950
Scout Billy Petersen of Hungry Horse was on the cover of Life Magazine. The magazine came out to take photos of the building of the Hungry Horse Dam, but also ended up featuring Petersen. The Hungry Horse Dam construction was progressing at a foot a day.
60 years ago
July 22, 1960
Smith Parratt, 10, and two others were severely mauled by a sow grizzly on the Otokomi Lake Trail. Parratt was the son of longtime ranger Lloyd Parratt. The boy was being treated in a hospital in Canada from a multitude of injuries, including broken ribs, a punctured lung and severe damage to his face, including the loss of one eye. He would survive. His story is chronicled in the book, “Fate is a Mountain” by his brother, Mark Parratt. Smith would go on to have a career with the Park Service.
50 years ago
July 24, 1970
Glacier National Park was working to keep bears and people separate. It began issuing $25 fines for people who fed bears alongside the road and was enforcing “pack it in, pack it out” regulations for backcountry users concerning garbage.
40 years ago
July 24, 1980
A second eruption from Mount St. Helens dusted the Flathead Valley with ash once again. The Oregon volcano’s latest eruption was nearly as a big as the one that blew off half of the mountain earlier in the year.
30 years ago
July 26, 1990
Noted jazz singer Mel Torme wowed a crowd at Meadow Lake Resort. A 9-year-old boy, Scott O’Hare, survived a mountain lion attack. The boy was pounced on by the lion at the Apgar picnic area about 11:15 a.m. The cat was tracked down and shot.
20 years ago
July 27, 2000
The area had several small wildfires. The largest was a 50 acre blaze near Kintla Lake in Glacier National Park. Guests at the Many Glacier Hotel were told to stay in their rooms while a rickety fire escape and balcony saw emergency repairs. They were so bad that they had to be fixed immediately.
10 years ago
July 22, 2010
The city of Columbia Falls was behind repairing the Red Bridge as a pedestrian bridge as the First Best Place Task Force, a local non-profit, and the state were working together on the project. But it never came to fruition.