Independently owned since 1905
Independently owned since 1905
Sorted by date Results 326 - 350 of 356
2 YEARS AGO • MAY 17, 1917 RIVER BOOMS; FLOOD DANGER WASHOUT ON COUGAR GULCH The chief concern of many dwellers throughout the main valley of Sanders County just now is not what the outcome of America’s entrance into the great war will be, but what the Clarks Fork river is going to do. From present indications and actions there are broad grounds for worry. The river has been steadily rising during the past week and is still on the rapid upward trend. From a normal flow of 10,000 feet per second at Thompson Falls it went to 37,700 feet las...
6 YEARS AGO • MAY 29, 1958 HIGH WATER DAMAGES DAM, TAKES OUT BRIDGE Immediate danger to the Montana Power Co. dam at Thompson Falls has subsided considerably Wednesday following a serious threat to the dam Saturday and Sunday after the boom broke about 7 o’clock Saturday morning and crashed into the main spillway section of the dam. Flow of the Clark Fork River reached its highest point Monday afternoon at 96,250, Clarence Helman stated. After breaking the boom and damaging the bent at the extreme left side of the dam Saturday the swollen riv...
9 YEARS AGO • JUNE 11, 1964 RAGING STREAMS CAUSE MAJOR DAMAGE TO ROADS, BRIDGES With smaller streams slowly receding, efforts in Sanders County Wednesday were being turned toward repairing damage to roads, bridges and culverts while attention was being maintained on the main Clark Fork River. The flow of the river over the Montana Power Co. dam Wednesday morning had reached 117,500 cubic feet per second (cfs) and was still rising. This represented an increase of 20,000 cfs since Monday afternoon. Only the 1950 and 1948 high water flows s...
7 YEARS AGO • MAY 5, 1948 NEW RUSTIC TAVERN OPENS Saturday night is the opening night for Jack and Dick Harwood’s new rustic tavern at Quinn’s Hot Springs. “Air-Lock” logs, produced by the National Log Construction Company of Thompson Falls were used in the building. The tavern is reported to be the most attractive log structure in this section of the country. Fine drinks, good food, with dancing before an open fireplace will be featured. Harwoods also have excellent hot mineral baths and overnite facilities. A number of couples from Thom...
PRESTON AVENUE Preston Avenue in Thompson Falls is the street that runs west to east right above the railway tracks. I've been asked how it was named. Eugene Preston was born March 3, 1852, in Pallantine, New York. His mother was from England. Eugene was nicknamed "Pee Wee." He married Celia Ingraham in 1875. Eugene and Celia came to Thompson Falls in 1886. This was noted in the pioneer list of 1935. Preston was the proprietor of the Thompson Ferry, Livery, Boarding and Sale Stable – Rigs 1...
5 YEARS AGO • APRIL 25, 1968 BOOSTER CLUB FORMED TO BACK TF STUDENTS A booster club to support athletics, music and other extra-curricular activities at Thompson Falls High School was organized Monday night by a group of 18 parents and interested citizens. Bill Chisenhall was elected president of the club to serve during the first year. Louis H. Dufresne was elected vice president and Mrs. Richard Wilkinson secretary-treasurer. First major project of the club will be to work for construction of a new athletic field with a regulation track a...
5 YEARS AGO • APRIL 11, 1968 PACK RIVER PURCHASES DIEHL LUMBER MILL Sale of the Diehl Lumber Co., one of Sanders County’s major lumber producers, to the Panhandle Lumber Sales, Inc. of Idaho, a division of the Pack River Lumber Co. of Sandpoint, was announced Tuesday by Stan Diehl, one of the firm’s owners. The sale was effective April 1. Diehl said no changes are planned in the mill’s operation and that he will serve as manager of the plant for Panhandle. His brother, Edwin Diehl, who was a partner in the firm, plans to remain in Plains...
5 YEARS AGO • APRIL 6, 1948 GUNDERSONS SELL SKOGMOS Sale of the Skogmo Clothing store to a new, still-to-be formed local corporation effective April 20 was announced Tuesday by owners Gary and Betty Gunderson. Stockholders in the new corporation will be Dean and Liz Margelin, State Rep. Chris Stobie and his wife, Ruby, Herb and Juanita Stobie, K.A. and Gladys Eggensperger and Jim and Middie Frost, all of Thompson Falls. Gunderson who is retiring from the clothing business after more than 35 years, will continue to reside in Thompson Falls. Gun...
7 YEARS AGO • APRIL, 1948 MAIN STREET AT ITS BEST Public spirited citizens of Thompson Falls turned out in full force Sunday morning to clean Main Street, a project sponsored by D.J. Brockway. The accumulation of mud was shoveled from the curbs, then was washed away. The fire department equipment and the city grader were used effectively. This is the beginning of a campaign to make Main Street more attractive. OBITUARY – ARA DAVIS DOLSON Ara Davis Dolson was born near Novelty, Missouri March 8, 1869, and after being in ill health for ten years...
PIONEERS AND EARLY SETTLERS OF PLAINS, MONTANA Researched by Ann Miller THE BIERWAGEN FAMILY William Bierwagen was born Feb. 25, 1888 in Kurridchikai, Bessarabia, South Russia to John Bierwagen and Carolina Wolfe. The family arrived in Canada about 1900, and from there they moved to the United States, settling in the New Leipzig, North Dakota area. There William met Mary Pahl and they were married Oct. 8, 1916. To this marriage the following children were born: 1] Viola M; 2] Bernice E.; 3] Raymond W.; 4] Hermie B.; 5] Curtis; 6] Martha R.; 7]...
PIONEERS AND EARLY SETTLERS OF PLAINS, MONTANA Researched by Ann Miller William Bruce Russell William Bruce Russell was born Dec. 23, 1864 near Binghampton, NY, to William C/G Russell of Hartford Conn., and Roseltha Clarke of Windsor, NY. His parents were married March 25th, 1863 Binghampton, NY. Roseltha died giving birth to William and he was raised by an Aunt. The following is taken from a sketch written by William’s son W.B. Jr.-William’s early years were spent in school and working in the timber of the area. At the age of sixteen, he dec...
5 YEARS AGO • MARCH 7, 1968 LUMBER $5.5 MILLION INDUSTRY IN SANDERS COUNTY During 1967 nearly $5.5 million was contributed to the economy of Sanders County by the forest industry represented by the Flodin Lumber and Manufacturing Co., the Thompson Falls Lumber Co., the Diehl Lumber Co. and the Clark Fork Logging Co., Forrest Dobson, CFL general manager, reported this week. The three mills have 275 permanent employees and a total annual payroll of $1,873,515. They have operated continuously on a 12-month basis for many years now and are continu...
12 YEARS AGO • MARCH 3, 1925 FIRST ROOFED HOUSE IN MONTANA LOCATED EAST OF TOWN Built by David Thompson in Fall of 1809 Possibly the greatest event of historical importance that has ever happened in the northwest occurred last Saturday when Will Café of Missoula, Historian of the Pioneers Association of Montana, unearthed the remains of the cabin that was built by David Thompson, just east of town. David Thompson was a surveyor for the British government and is claimed to be the greatest geographer the British Empire ever produced who ma...
5 YEARS AGO • FEBRUARY 22, 1968 FUTURE HOSPITAL NEEDS EYED AT PLAINS SESSION Approximately 150 Plains and Thompson Falls citizens attended a meeting Friday night in the Plains school sponsored by the Sanders County Citizens Committee for a Hospital when a proposed new hospital in the Plains area was discussed. T. Millar Bryce, committee chairman, said, “We have started a campaign for a new hospital and will continue it until the voters decide the issue.” He pointed out that Missoula after it gets its new hospital, now in the planning stage wil...
Remember When, Feb. 15, 1968, 50 Years Ago Firemen Douse Snack Bar Fire Quick and efficient action by the Thompson Falls Volunteer Fire Dept. early Friday morning saved the Ledger building and prevented total destruction of the Snack Bar’s equipment. The fire was discovered by Mrs. Richard Sanders about 5:45 a.m. when she prepared to open the café and found the building filled with smoke. She rushed to the sheriff’s office to call for help. The dense smoke at first hindered the firemen in locating the flames which by that time had spread to t...
Picture called Larsons & Greens if you have room for it 50 YEARS AGO • FEBRUARY 15, 1968 FIRE LEVELS LARSONS STORE Fire completely destroyed Thompson Falls' oldest and largest retail establishment, Larsons & Greens, Inc. early Wednesday morning. The fire was first noted when a transformer on an electric power pole at the rear of the building exploded and flashes of light awoke Matt Marich and Duke Sallee who reside nearby. The alarm was turned into the sheriff's office at 1:35 a.m. Leveled by t...
5 YEARS AGO • FEBRUARY 1, 1968 BOY FALLS INTO RIVER BUT SAVES HIS DOG There’s a stronger than normal bond existing between Gypsy, a three-year-old German Shepherd, and her master, Scott Sol. Gypsy owes her life to 10-year-old Scott, son of Highway Patrolman and Mrs. Joe R. Sol. While Scott and his sister, Sherry were playing around their home at Birdland Bay west of Thompson Falls the other day, Gypsy was exploring an iced over inlet in the Clark Fork River nearby when the ice gave way and she fell into the icy water. The two Sol children hea...
WORKING MEN BY MONA LEESON VANEK From Behind These Mountains, Volume 1 The majority of men found woods work profitable. All along the banks of the Clark’s Fork River and the larger side streams feeding into it the lumberjacks swung heavy axes, pulled wide-toothed saws that chewed sawdust in steady rhythm. Strong, resourceful men who lived in tents or small cabins that contained no more than a bunk bed made of rough lumber upon which a bed roll could be placed; a rough plank table constructed of whatever materials were at hand; an enameled b...
5 YEARS AGO JANUARY 18, 1968 10A PERMA CURVES, SHORT-CUT PROJECT SCHEDULED IN 1968 The Montana Highway Commission plans to call for bids in the spring and early summer for two major highway construction projects in Sanders County. Bids for re-construction of three sections of U.S. Highway 10A (now Highway 200), including the hazardous Perma Curves section, now are scheduled for letting in May. The project will eliminate the most dangerous curves in the highway between Perma and Dixon in addition to the main Perma Curves section west of Perma....
EARLY RECOLLECTIONS ON THE FOREST BY BEN SAINT • 1907-1929 Continued from last week In every fire crew we seemed, somehow, to draw an agitator or trouble maker and their wails were numerous. Kicks about hours allowed and poor food furnished and it was quite a problem for the Ranger to solve. We were instructed to keep these men on the job if possible for many of them were far back in the forest and it was hard to get men to replace them. This continued as time went on and in 1910 the year of the great fire, we were really having serious t...
EARLY RECOLLECTIONS ON THE FOREST BY BEN SAINT • 1907-1929 I came to Montana the early part of March, 1907, with my father and was just past the age of 19. We came from Kansas where farming was the chief occupation and knew nothing of the mountains and the hardships we were facing. Father purchased a homestead from one of the early settlers near Noxon. Dealing in homesteads was, at the time, quite popular and quite profitable as well. The most of the claims had not been filed on and no one seemed to know that the forest had been created, but th...
5 YEARS AGO • JANUARY 4, 1968 HOWARD BUCK TO BE HONORED AT OPEN HOUSE SATURDAY Howard Buck, one of the best butchers in this area, will start a new life Saturday when an open house is held at the Buck’s Grocery all day, so his friends may wish him well. He is going to retire. For 28½ years Howard and Eddie Buck have owned and operated Buck’s Grocery in Hot Springs. Now Eddie is buying Howard’s share in the store. Eddie’s son-in-law Mike Wigton, will be working with him. After World War II, both Howard and Eddie worked at other jobs for a few y...
MEMORIES OF WHITEPINE (Excerpt from Crosscuts and Rails) By Helen Haase Helen O. Haase was appointed postmaster of Whitepine in Mrs. Sand’s place, and she and her husband, Lyle R. Haase, Purchased the store from the Anna C. Sand estate in 1945. After the death of Mr. Haase in 1964, Helen retired as postmistress and the postal equipment was moved to the Lloyd Austin home, and Pat Austin operated the post office until the spring when the red tape of officially closing the office was completed. The stock of the Whitepine Mercantile was sold and t...
MEMORIES OF WHITEPINE (Excerpt from Crosscuts and Rails) By Helen Haase My mother, sister, and I arrived in White Pine late on the night of October 1, 1905. Notice the name – it was the original name given by the Northern Pacific Railroad and was on the depot and on early maps. Later the Post Office Department combined the words, and it has been Whitepine, Montana since. My father had been here several months prior to our arrival, and I recall that that first winter we lived in the cookhouse of an abandoned sawmill located on Big Beaver C...
5 YEARS AGO • DECEMBER 7, 1967 YULE LIGHTS BRIGHTEN FALLS FOR 18TH TIME The lights on the spruce trees along the north side of Main Street went up for the 18th yule season Saturday with members of the Thompson Falls Lions Club and employees of the Montana Power Co. and Mountain States Telephone doing the work. On hand for their 18th year were two Lions – M.C. Sutherland and Harold Jensen – who were members of the original crew moving the trees in the winter of 1949 from the court house. Sutherland said that holes about 10 feet by 10 feet...
