Yesterdays: Harvey Machine Co. in line for federal loan to build aluminum plant
Water canon fights during summer playdays in Columbia Falls, August, 1971. Mel Ruder photo
70 years ago
Aug. 3, 1951
Flathead County real estate values were now $50 million, up about $500,000 from the year before. The Harvey Machine Co. was in line for a $46 million Defense Production loan to build a three potline aluminum plant in Columbia Falls.
60 years ago
Aug. 4, 1961
Forests were bone dry and the summer had already seen 17 days of temperatures of 90 or above. Firefighters had pounced on a blaze in the south fork of Coal Creek. The Columbia Falls Booster Club was just $900 shy of raising enough funds to put lights in at the football field.
50 years ago
Aug. 4, 1971
Divers volunteered to clean up the bottom of Waterton Lake in Waterton Lakes National Park. They removed 1-1/2 tons of garbage from the bottom of the lake. More than 3,500 people came out for Rodeo Days in Columbia Falls. It was the 15th year of the event.
40 years ago
Aug. 6, 1981
Author and actor Laurence Delaney had moved to Whitefish with his wife and young daughter. He had appeared in TV shows like “Quincy” and “Gunsmoke” and was a successful author, having penned the book, “Blood Red Wine,” which was a New York Times bestseller. He said he was trying to escape the crowds of Laguna Beach, California. Delaney died in 2015.
30 years ago
Aug. 1, 1991
Former vice president Dan Quayle vacationed in the Flathead Valley. He was friends with the Rolfing family of Columbia Falls. Mark Rolfing went to college with Quayle. The vice president stayed at the Kootenai Lodge on Swan Lake.
20 years ago
Aug. 2, 2001
Front page story featured J. Gordon Edwards, the author of “A Climber’s guide to Glacier National Park.” Edwards came to Glacier to study insects and his travels in the high country of the park spawned the book, which is still used by climbers today.
10 years ago
Aug. 3, 2011
A hiker in the basin above Avalanche Lake found clothing and other items that turned out to be remains of Yi Jien Hwa, a 27-year-old native of Malaysia who had gone missing in the area three years earlier in Glacier National Park.