Yesterdays: Roscoe Black announced he would build the “Great Bear Lodge” at St. Mary
Lewis Hutton was carrying a load of short logs across this wooden bridge at Goodrich Bayou when the bridge collapsed in March, 1961. Fortunately there was no loss of life, but five families were stuck on the other side of the bayou with the bridge out. (Mel Ruder photo)
70 years ago
March 9, 1951
A blizzard put the damper on the national downhill races at Big Mountain. The blowing snow limited visibility to the finish line and little else. The Forest Service was putting up 17 million board feet of timber for sale up Hungry Horse Creek as part of the Hungry Horse Dam project. The lake behind the dam at the time was called Kelly Lake.
60 years ago
March 17, 1961
Mayor Roy Lindsey was seeking a second term as Columbia Falls mayor. He said if he was elected he would continue his program to improve city streets and to get the city out of debt.
50 years ago
March 12, 1971
Dan Bean, a retired Navy chief, had started teaching judo lessons to area kids.
Bean would teach judo for years in the valley. Pantsuits would be allowed in Columbia Falls High Schools as would slacks for girls “as long as they were moderately fitted.”
40 years ago
March 12, 1981
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad investigators said they weren’t sure what exactly caused an Amtrak train to derail near Marias Pass. A broken rail was found, but it was determined that it broke after the train tipped over. They did note that unstable ground conditions in the spring could have impacted the tracks.
30 years ago
March 7, 1991
Bertha Monroe, 86, was considered the “grand duchess” of bowling in Montana. She had bowled 38,000 games. She had a 132 average throwing a straight ball. She said she was going to keep bowling “as long as I can.”
20 years ago
March 8, 2001
Roscoe Black announced he would build the “Great Bear Lodge” at St. Mary. The Black family built the original lodge, a much smaller one, there years before. The new lodge was to feature luxury suites, Black said. Plum Creek was expanding, building a new MDF line.
10 years ago
March 9, 2011
Winter had been relentless on East Glacier Park, with the small town seeing 174 inches of snow.
Some homes there were literally buried beneath drifts — one had to dig out below the roof to reach the front door.