Yesterdays: Glacier beetle discovery

70 years ago

Sept. 18, 1953

Smokejumpers tried twice to jump from an airplane to fight the Hart Lake Fire east of Spotted Bear but it was too windy, so the four men took horses to the one-acre fire. Fire conditions at the time were very high. Crews were getting ready to pave Nucleus Avenue from Highway 40 to the train tracks.

60 years

Sept. 20, 1963

Thirteen bighorn sheep were transplanted to Columbia Mountain from the Bison Range in Moiese. If the plant was successful, it was expected that a hunt could occur within years. A few years back several sheep appeared in neighborhoods near Columbia Mountain, but they were suspected of having traveled from the Bob Marshall or Glacier National Park.

50 years ago

Sept. 21, 1973

Plum Creek’s new fiberboard plant was moving in equipment and the raw materials building, which was 360 feet long by 100 feet wide was completed. The new plant meant 120 jobs in Columbia Falls.

40 years ago

Sept. 22, 1983

New car sales were up about 40% over the previous year as the country was coming out of a recession. The 1983 model year was ending and people were snatching them up. Larger cars were becoming more popular again, as gas prices stabilized and even big rigs were getting better gas mileage than they used to. Interest rates had been as high as 13% on loans, but were easing back into the 10% range.

30 years ago

Sept. 23, 1993

Entomologist Mike Ivie discovered 55 different members of a family of beetles that were previously unknown to inhabit Glacier National Park. He also discovered one species that lived in 500-year-old forests. Ivy was doing research on the bugs in the aftermath of the 1988 Red Bench Fire, which burned across the North Fork Region of the park.

20 years ago

Sept. 18, 2003

Glacier National Park planned to keep the Going-to-the-Sun Road over Logan Pass until early November as long as the weather held. It was a departure from previous policy that set a hard date in mid October to close to the road to cars.

10 years ago

Sept. 18, 2013

Jordan Linn Graham was released from custody pending further federal court appearances by a federal Judge. The 22-year-old woman had been held in custody for pushing her newlywed husband, Cody Lee Johnson, off a cliff near the Loop of Glacier National Park’s Going-to-the-Sun Road.