Remember When?

35 YEARS AGO

DECEMBER 22, 1988

67 YEAR LODGE MEMBER RECALLS EARLY DAYS

When Chuck Duffield attempted to contact Franklyn Rutherford to invite him to attend his installation as Grand Master of the Thompson Falls Lodge Masons, he had a hard time getting through to him.

Chuck reasoned that Franklyn may not be around anymore. The address and phone number were old and after all Rutherford had been retired for several years.

Later he found out why he was so difficult to contact.

In the summer Frank spends his time rockhounding on Rock Creek and in the winter he likes to cross country ski, a busy schedule for a man who will turn 92 the second of January.

But in any case, Rutherford was able to attend Duffield’s installation last week and renew his bonds with the lodge in which he has been a member for 67 years.

Rutherford spent several years in the Thompson Falls area, when his father owned a considerable amount of land along the Blue Slide Road - an area that covered from Swamp Creek to Graves Creek and then up along the slopes of Cougar Peak. He joined the Thompson Falls Lodge in 1921 and has remained a member since.

He said that one of the homes they lived in was on land owned by area pioneer Bill Norton. While most area residents know of him only through his reputation and from historical accounts, Franklyn said he remembers the man from personal meetings with him. And to no surprise, he said he remembers him much as the stories did - that of an eccentric, who was finally placed in an institution. Franklyn also recalled the days of the 1910 fire, the “Big Blow-up” as it was later tabbed.

He recalled that as a boy of 13, he and two friends had headed to the Vermilion drainage on horseback to spend a few nights camping. They hadn't been there long when his friends’ father found them and told them they better head back home.

The next day the fire raced through the spot where they were camped.

Franklyn said they spent the days of the fire carrying water by hand and bucket to save the barn of a neighbor who was located adjacent to the flames. Fortunately they were able to save the building. In recalling that inferno, Franklyn said he has experienced many forest fires since that time, but nothing compared with the flames, intense heat and power of that fire. He said he remembered watching giant ponderosa pines being completely consumed by advancing flames. Recalling days in early Thompson Falls, Rutherford said he recalled the original ferries that took passengers across the Clark Fork River in Thompson Falls. Rutherford said he remembered that accidents with the ferries were not that uncommon, and he remembers the stories of capsizings that left animals and passengers to swim for their lives and freight to take a rough and tumble journey down the cascading Thompson Falls.

He also remembered the building of the dam in “Power City,” a project that caused the area and the town to boom.

One thing Rutherford couldn’t speak of was the early days in the Thompson Falls school system, as he left each fall to attend school back east with relatives. He did recall early educator William Nippert who was called into action when school was held in the building at the base of Spruce Street. He said Nippert, who was a “remittance man” by experience, was called in after two other educators had been unable to handle an unruly class. Nippert took on the challenge, and as Rutherford realled, it took him the lesser part of a day to put things in order.

Nippert served several years in Thompson Falls and later found his final resting place here, one of the more interesting monuments in a local cemetery.

Franklyn said the family left Thompson Falls when his father was unable to manage their large land holdings any longer. He divided the property into three ranches and sold them to three different men. He moved to Missoula while Franklyn moved over to Echo Lake, a small body of water high in the mountains near Georgetown Lake west of Anaconda.

Rutherford was honored at Duffield’s installation with a special plaque commissioned by Chuck, commemorating the dates Franklyn joined and earned advancement in the lodge.