Yesterdays:The forgotten Flood of '75
Cleaning mud out of the basement of the St. Mary Lodge after the flood of '75 in June, 1975. (Mel Ruder photo)
70 years ago
June 24, 1955
It had been a very cold spring, followed by heat and dry weather and then a thunderstorm came, sparking a fire in Glacier National Park at Adair Ridge. The fire was in a lone yellow pine and was expected to be extinguished quickly.
60 years ago
June 23, 1965
Renfrow Cabinet Works, owned by Leo Renfrow of Columbia Falls, received the bid to do cabinet and other work in the 11-story dormitory being built at Montana State University. Renfrow would build the cabinets out of birch and fir plywood.
50 years ago
June 26, 1975
Flooding hit the Flathead with major damage to the railroad and U.S. Highway 2 and parts of Kalispell that are now Evergreen. Columbia Falls was largely spared, though Roy Lindsey, a former mayor of Columbia Falls, saw his garage badly flooded. Still, he said it was far better than in 1964, when the water went up to the top of the windows of his house.
40 years ago
June 27, 1985
The parents of Ray Johnsrud, 16, who had been killed in a car-train collision the year before, sued Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad and the Sapa family. They claimed James M. Sapa, 16, who also died in the accident, was negligent for driving around the down gates and the railroad was negligent because the gates would often go down and stay down at the 12th Avenue West crossing when no train was coming.
30 years ago
June 29, 1995
Glacier Park would soon start about $2.8 million in work on the Going-to-the-Sun Road at Logan Pass and would also do emergency work in other areas of the park due to recent flooding.
20 years ago
June 23, 2005
A massive rock fell off the cliffs above the Going-to-the-Sun Road and crushed a construction trailer parked near Triple Arches. No one was injured, but the rock was estimated to weigh about 10,000 pounds.
10 years ago
June 24, 2015
Fifteen-year-old Jacob Hagen was counting his lucky stars. The youth was asleep when he heard popping sounds and woke up to find his bed on fire. He fled the family’s Martin City home as it was engulfed in flames. The home was destroyed, but he survived. His parents were at work at the time.