Yesterdays:
An aerial view of the high school, 1972. (Mel Ruder photo)
70 years ago
July 25, 1952
Regent Drilling had started a second well in the Canadian Flathead just north of the border. There was optimism that they would find natural gas. School District 6 was putting out bids for an 11 classroom elementary school. Today it is Glacier Gateway School and will be torn down by the end of next school year.
60 years ago
July 28, 1962
Columbia Falls would soon see cable TV, which would have four channels and an education channel. The cost was $24.95 for installation and $4.50 a month after that. Glacier brass noted that there had been some limited hunting in the Park the year before, with 75 elk taken in St. Mary.
50 years ago
July 28, 1972
Glacier National Park officials were concerned after a 68-acre inholding along Cracker Lake went up for sale. The private land inside the park dated back to an old mining claim. Two men, Robert M. Graham and Michael T. Fitzgerald bought the land from two women in Cut Bank for $6,800, who acquired it for about $44 in back taxes. The men were advertising it for $150,000.
40 years ago
July 29, 1982
Businesses in Columbia Falls said things were looking up since Highway 40 was officially changed to U.S. Highway 2 through the city. Highway 2 used to go around Columbia Falls and is now Highway 206.
30 years ago
July 30, 1992
Gil’s Furniture burned down in an electrical fire on Highway 40. The fire was a massive blaze. Vice President Dan Quayle would be in the area as he was vacationing with friends at Swan Lake.
20 years ago
July 25, 2002
Neighbors had filed a $1 million lawsuit against a motocross course, claiming the noise was a nuisance. Brian McDowell shot what he believed was a wolf hybrid off Whitefish Stage Road. Fish and Wildlife officials said it wasn’t considered a wild wolf, because it was fairly tame around humans, but it had killed a llama, though not very efficiently — the poor critter was all chewed up.
10 years ago
July 25, 2012
Coram native Sam Kavanagh was headed to the Paralympics as a cyclist for the U.S. Kanavagh lost part of a leg in an avalanche accident seven years before.