Yesterdays: Coal Ridge lookout gets a makeover
Jim Peters was drying 100 square feet of sweet corn for seed at his garden south of Columbia Falls in October, 1963. (Mel Ruder photo)
70 years ago
Oct. 1, 1954
Freezing weather without too much snow was helping logging efforts in the Flathead. The summer had been wet and loggers had been fighting mud for months. The cold weather had frozen the ground. The Polebridge over the North Fork was impassable after a slump. It was estimated it would cost about $10,000 to repair or $50,000 to replace.
60 years ago
Oct. 2, 1964
Columbia Falls was certainly the industrial hub of the county, with 1,747 men employed in the aluminum industry and timber industry. The aluminum industry employed more than 1,200 on its own.
50 years ago
Oct. 4, 1974
The Canadians were doing exploration for coal up Cabin Creek in the North Fork of the Flathead. A spread on the exploration showed where a working mine and silted up a stream on private land. The battle over the mines would last for nearly 50 years.
40 years ago
Oct. 4, 1984
The Atlantic Richfield Co. told Columbia Falls residents that it had no plans to shut down the aluminum plant here, but it was looking to sell the plant.
30 years ago
Sept. 29, 1994
Longtime Glacier National Park packer Bill Yenne died. He was 86. The book on his life, “Switchback” is a classic read.
20 years ago
Sept. 30, 2004
A memorial service was held for Columbia Falls pilot Jim Long, who died while flying an airplane to Shafer Meadows in the Great Bear Wilderness in bad weather. Long mistakenly flew up the wrong drainage and the plane crashed into Mount Liebig. Two other people were killed in the crash, Ken Good and Davita Bryant, but two others miraculously survived and hiked down the mountain while severely injured and found help.
10 years ago
Oct. 2014
Leif Haugen and his crew were busy fixing up the Coal Ridge Lookout in the Whitefish Range. Unlike other lookouts, Coal Ridge was more of a shelter cabin than a lookout with large windows.