Yesterdays: Land dispute between Hollywood director and landowner goes to court
Heaven’s Gate film director Michael Cimino was in a legal battle with North Fork landowner Murland Searight.
70 years ago
Oct. 5, 1951
The Hungry Horse Dam was 73% complete and about a year away from producing power. An outbreak of spruce bark beetle in the North Fork meant the Forest Service was considering a 20 to 40 million board feet timber sale.
60 years ago
Oct. 6, 1961
The two-room Canyon View School went up for sale. Adrian Gill of Half Moon bought the building for $100 and a garage for $23. The district didn’t own the land, so he had a year to move the buildings.
50 years ago
Oct. 8, 1971
The Kokanee salmon run up the Flathead River to McDonald Creek in Glacier National Park had more and bigger fish, biologists reported. There was a lot of snaggers at the mouth of the creek and the Middle Fork. The Koocanusa Lake Bridge, the largest in Montana, was set for dedication Nov. 6.
40 years ago
Oct. 8, 1981
Heaven’s Gate film director Michael Cimino was in a legal battle with North Fork landowner Murland Searight. Cimino apparently bought about 154 acres from Searight, but he took it back after Cimino failed to make a payment. The two were then battling it out in district court. The purchase price was $238,000.
30 years ago
Oct. 3, 1991
Glacier Park reported it received 2,311 bear sightings during the summer season. Of that, 812 were grizzly sightings and 1,199 were black bears. That doesn’t mean that many bears were actually in the park — just that people reported the sightings.
20 years ago
Oct. 4, 2001
Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, prices for lumber were off 20%. A dead grizzly bear was found up the North Fork. It was presumed killed by the Moose Fire, which ripped through the area earlier in the year.
10 years ago
Oct. 5, 2011
Wrangler Erin Bolster and her horse Tonk were headed to the David Letterman show. During a guided horse ride near West Glacier, a grizzly chased a deer into the party. The deer got away, but then the bear started chasing one of the horses with an 8-year-old boy in the saddle, Bolster and Tonk headed off the charging griz, a story that made national headlines.