Yesterdays: CFalls police lowest paid in the Valley
Anaconda Copper Mining brass scout out locations for a new aluminum plant on Jan. 31, 1952. Here they are on the old John Schandler orchard at the base of Teakettle Mountain. From left is Henry Larkin, one of the landowners, H.G. Satterthwaite, assistant general superintendent of ACM, Joe Opalka, V.E. Christensen of International Smelting Co., W.C. Rae of ACM and Dwight Lohn, Bank of Columbia Falls vice president. (Mel Ruder photo)
70 years ago
April 9, 1954
Work stopped on the Anaconda Aluminum Co. plant as carpenters went on strike. There was 30 inches of snow on the level at Glacier National Park headquarters with a few inches more at the inlet of McDonald Creek. Front page photo looked more like January than April.
60 years ago
April 10, 1964
Park plow crews in Glacier National Park were finding what they said were normal snow depths. Columbia Falls passed a weeds ordinance to force people to clean up their properties. City leaders were also contemplating a sewer system, noting there were federal funds available to help pay for it.
50 years ago
April 12, 1974
Front page story featured the economic impact of the Anaconda Aluminum plant. It employed 849 people and had a payroll of $12 million. The Bonneville Power Administration noted that a nuclear power plant for Hungry Horse had no firm plans and even if it did, they were years away. One was never built.
40 years ago
April 12, 1984
Columbia Falls Police were the lowest paid in the valley, even after raises. A new officer started out at $6.58 per hour, while in Whitefish the pay was between $7.17 and $9.68 per hour. Sheriff’s Deputies started out at $8.35 per hour.
30 years ago
April 14, 1994
Cassie Gunter was crowned the 1995 Junior Miss pageant winner, a contest among Columbia Falls High School girls. The final portion of the contest included a step aerobic exercise routine to judge contestants’ physical health. The winner got a one year scholarship to Flathead Valley Community College and a $650 cash prize.
20 years ago
April 8, 2014
Water, or the lack thereof, was still a major concern in the valley, particularly coming off an historic fire year in 2003. The snowpack was below normal and was actually worse than the year before.
10 years ago
April 9, 2004
Xanterra Parks and Resorts bought the former Canyon RV Park and Campground from Steve and Dee Brown. The company uses the site today, in part, for employee housing. National Geographic began promoting Montana and adventure tourism saw a rise. The end result a few years later was visitation in places like Glacier National Park went from 2 million a year to 3 million today.