70 years ago

Jan. 21, 1955

Ralph Watson, a geologist from Great Northern Railroad agreed with the Park Service that the sinking of the shore of Lake McDonald near Lake McDonald Lodge near Snyder Creek was caused by water percolating through the soils from the creek, not an earthquake or other disturbance. The sinking sent the boat house of the lodge into the depths of the lake.

60 years ago

Jan. 22, 1965

Plum Creek’s new plywood plant in Columbia Falls was expected to start production in February. The new plant would employ about 130, with about 350 men total working locally for the company. 

50 years ago

Jan. 24, 1975

Editor Mel Ruder suggested Columbia Falls folks travel in Canada, as the U.S. was eyeing fuel rationing. In Canada, they were exporting fuels and the exchange rate was favorable, giving Montanans more buying power.

40 years ago

Jan. 25, 1985

The state approved a new oil well on the Coal Creek State Forest. The well would be about 30 miles north of Columbia Falls. The North Fork Preservation Association said it would sue, challenging the permit.

30 years ago

Jan. 26, 1995

Former Glacier National Park superintendent Kieth Neilson gave the Shriners Hospital $1 million. Neilson was active in the Shriners and Masons as an adult and had orthopedic surgery in his youth.

20 years ago

Jan. 17, 2005

School District 6 implemented a new policy that bus drivers couldn’t use cell phones while driving after a parent complained that a driver was driving and chatting on the phone at the same time. 

10 years ago

Jan. 21, 2015

There were renewed hopes that SmartLam would build a plant on a vacant industrial park in Columbia Falls. The plant was never built, but when Weyerhaeuser closed down the Plum Creek sawmills a few years ago, they moved into one of the buildings. Today, the industrial park is still largely vacant.