Yesterdays
60 Years Ago
June 1, 1951
Logging crews were dragging an anchor-shaped tool between two bulldozers to remove debris at the Hungry Horse Reservoir site. Jack Merz patented the device, which was used to "comb" trees and brush into slash piles for burning.
Glacier National Park landscape architect Frank Neubauer was surveying locations on the Going-to-the-Sun Road along Lake McDonald for vista view pullouts.
50 Years Ago
June 2, 1961
Search and rescue scuba divers found the body of 10-year-old Stephen Gesek in Bailey Lake, about eight miles north of Columbia Falls. Gesek and another 10-year-old boy biked out to the lake from Gesek's home on the North Fork Road and boarded a log raft. The raft drifted to the middle of the lake, marooning the two boys. Gesek jumped in with his clothes on and tried to swim to a log but didn't make it. The other boy eventually took off his clothes and swam to shore. Flathead County Sheriff Dick Walsh said the raft was well-made but it should be chained to shore to prevent another tragedy.
By holding back the South Fork of the Flathead River, the Hungry Horse Dam prevented the mainstem of the Flathead from reaching 17 feet. Instead, the river reached 14.3 feet. The last major flood was on March 22, 1948, when the river reached 19 feet.
40 Years Ago
June 4, 1971
In an editorial, Mel Ruder said he had supported development of a trail from Logan Pass to Sperry Chalet as part of the Continental Divide Trail system in the past, but his opinion had changed because of potential human-bear conflicts.
Conventions planned for lodges in Glacier Park included 200 people with the Montana Broadcasters Association at the Many Glacier Hotel and 200 people with the Upper Midwest Agricultural Credit Conference at Glacier Park Lodge, in East Glacier. Other conventions in the Park were planned for the Montana Building Materials Association and the Montana Insurance Education Foundation.
30 Years Ago
June 4, 1981
The state highway department planned to take comments at meetings on five alternatives for reconstruction of U.S. 2 from Columbia Heights through the Canyon. The Coalition For Canyon Preservation successfully blocked plans for an 88-feet wide four-lane highway by suing in federal court. The court ordered that a comprehensive environmental impact statement be completed on the project.
Former Glacier Park chief engineer Max Edgar criticized a questionnaire on the highway project that was developed under contractor Robert Peccia & Associates, calling some of the questions "loaded." Edgar said he had driven the road for 27 years and wanted a four-lane highway built.
20 Years Ago
June 6, 1991
Glacier Park backcountry supervisor Jack Potter was awarded the 1990 Equal Opportunity Award for the National Park Service's Rocky Mountain Region. Potter was credited for hiring a hearing-impaired woman and then setting aside time for her fellow workers to learn sign language. He also hired two women for supervisory positions and a Native American animal packer, and he promoted a Native American to trail crew leader and tried to hire workers from the Blackfeet Tribal Youth Program.
Roaming bears closed the Bowman Lake campground. A man from Nebraska claimed he was bit by a bear. His foot was sticking out of his sleeping bag, he said. Park officials could not confirm his account, although a black and grizzly bear were seen around the campground.
10 Years Ago
June 7, 2001
City street superintendent Gary Stempin applied for the open city manager position. He had been the street superintendent for Columbia Falls for six years and Flathead County solid waster director for 15 1/2 years, and he sat on the School District 6 board of trustees. Councilor Susan Nicosia said it didn't make sense to spend $8,000 to $10,000 to recruit a city manager candidate if a qualified candidate could be found in-house.
One of several homes on Toftum Lane used as a meth lab was burned to the ground as an exercise for firefighters. The owners of another home were facing $20,000 in cleanup costs, and the home had sat empty for 5-6 months.