Yesterdays: Pilot crashes plane in Glacier National Park

70 years ago

Feb. 15, 1952

Glacier National Park’s elk herd was doing well. It had been mild in February and 100 elk were counted from West Glacier to Essex. Big Mountain ski area was giving free use of the tow for junior skiers on President’s Day.

60 years ago

Feb. 14, 1962

The Flathead Valley was mostly free of snow, but there was 107 inches of snow at the top of Big Mountain. The Whitefish Winter Carnival was set to begin, with a torchlight parade and fireworks on the slope. The payroll of the Anaconda Aluminum Co. plant and four local lumber mills topped $5 million.

50 years ago

Feb. 18, 1972

Unemployment in the Flathead Valley was 11.4%, which was less than the year before, when it was at 14.3%. The Montana Wilderness Association was sponsoring a ski trip to Apgar Lookout. Ralph Thayer recalled planting elk in the area in 1910. They were moved from Yellowstone and dropped in the Belton Hills. The herd eventually made it up the North Fork.

40 years ago

Jan. 21, 1982

Budget cuts under President Ronald Reagan threatened to close the National Weather Service office at the Glacier International Airport. Today, there is no weather forecaster there — they’re all in Missoula.

30 years ago

Feb. 20, 1992

The pilot of a plane that crashed Feb. 12 at Logan Pass in Glacier Park likely became disoriented in the weather. Investigators found no problems with the engine or other parts. Willard and Marion Smith of Canada were killed when the single engine craft went down.

20 years ago

Feb. 14, 2002

A B1 photo featured Cliff Fry and Terry Therrien lowering the old Canyon Hotel sign into a dumpster as snow fell. The hotel was going to be renamed Boomers and feature a ’40-‘60s-themed nightclub. Jared Hope shot and killed his parents, Carol and Chet and then shot himself in a Whitefish murder-suicide. Chet was a local physician.

10 years ago

Feb. 15, 2002

Glacier National Park asked the Bureau of Indian Affairs to do an environmental impact statement for oil well drilling on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. Wells were being drilled just a few miles from Glacier. Many of them, however, never panned out.