Yesterdays: Middle Fork grizzly encounter

| October 18, 2023 2:00 AM

70 years ago

Oct. 16, 1953

Columbia Falls was proposing 22-foot wide alleys, The current alleys were 12 feet wide. It had been a mild fall and the bears in Glacier National Park were still largely awake. The park needed some snow to send bears into hibernation.

60 years ago

Oct. 18, 1963

The Anaconda Aluminum Co., Great Northern Railway and Pacific Power and Light were the three top taxpayers in the county. The companies paid about one-fourth of all the property taxes in the county. AAC paid $312,000 alone.

50 years ago

Oct. 19, 1973

Jack Potter and Jim McFadyean were putting down fir planks to extend the boardwalk at Logan Pass to the Hidden Lake Overlook. The boardwalk was controversial, but kept people from trampling the meadows at Logan Pass. Potter would go on to be the Chief of Science and Resources in Glacier.

40 years ago

Oct. 20, 1983

The Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. was experimenting with larger ingots — ones that were 15 feet long and weighted 30,000 pounds. The plan was to ship them to the company’s Kentucky plant and then roll them into aluminum foil, of all things.

30 years ago

Oct. 14, 1993

Trent Burke, a contract hay worker who was in a field at the Sloan place in West Glacier ended up floating about 400 yards in the Middle Fork of the Flathead. Burke encountered a sow grizzly and her cub. The sow was none too happy and got within 15 feet, so he started backing up and went into the river, floating downstream until he was safely away from the bear. He said he didn’t remember the water being too cold — he was in a bit of a shock.

20 years ago

Oct. 16, 2003

Tyler Stanley scored the game-winning goal as the Wildcats won the state A soccer championship over Whitefish in overtime, 4-2. Back then teams played in a three-day tourney. The Cats beat Laurel that Thursday and Billings Central that Friday.

10 years ago

Oct. 16, 2013

A government shutdown meant Glacier Park was closed. The Coalition for National Park Service Retirees calculated it cost the local economy about $3 million and shut out about 60,000 visitors to Glacier.