Remember When?

90 YEARS AGO

DECEMBER 27, 1918

DISASTROUS FLOODS OCCUR

Highways Are Impassable in Many Sections

The heavy rains of November and December have resulted in unprecedented damage to railroads, bridges, telephone lines, power lines and roads.

The heavy rains resulted in slides, washing out the Dry Creek road, blocking the Blue Slide, washing out a dozen major bridges in the county, and an uncountable number of smaller bridges. Only three bridges on the main highway were washed out. The Thompson River Bridge was saved.

At Trout Creek the county bridge over Beaver Creek was washed out. The bridge at the Trout Creek Ranger station is gone (the Trout Creek Ranger Station used to be by the actual creek of Trout Creek), bridge across Marten Creek washed out, bridge by Hoyt’s mill, Wilkes Creek bridge, and bridges above and below Crow creek on Prospect were all washed out.

There is a slide blocking the Vermilllion Creek road, and a slide between Copper Point and the Vermilion and Trout Creek bridge.

Although the Northern Pacific trains were retarded by slides at Whitepine and train service was disrupted all in one night, still at the present time all trains are going through on a regular schedule. The main highway running on the north side of the river from Noxon to Heron is not damaged, but the old highway is impassable because of washed out bridges.

Mr. Abbott reports that the water was within 12 inches of the floor of the ranger station office at St. Regis. The ranger family was rescued by boat. The railroad bridge trestle costing hundreds of thousands to build was washed out. New slides are still being reported in that area.

Wallace, Idaho is practically isolated. The people are suffering from lack of coal and wood. Gasoline is prorated only to those using it for a beneficial purpose. The pavement between Wallace and Kellogg was completely demolished and torn up by the flood. Rail service between Spokane and Wallace and Kellogg is as badly damaged as on the other side. It will cost millions to replace the washed out trackage and rebuild and repair both highway and railroad bridges. Airplanes are now delivering food, supplies, butter, eggs, etc. and delivering papers into that area.

For the past week Thompson Falls has been the only means of outside communication from the mining district. All Associated Press wires and telephone communications are coming through from east portals over the Montana Power Company lines. The Montana Power lines in this area are all in service, but the power lines on the other side connecting with the Milwaukee Railroad are down and no electricity from this dam could be supplied if trains could run.

Monday morning 500 men started from the Wallace side of the Glidden Pass to clear it for communication with Prospect Creek and Thompson Falls. We are only thirty-two miles from the mining district but the Glidden Pass is a barrier which makes communication between the two points almost impossible. In the early days the Glidden was the main point of communication from Thompson Falls to the cities of Wallace and Kellogg, furnishing them with supplies and material. With the construction of the railroad lines through the St. Regis valley and million dollar highway from Spokane through to Missoula, the Glidden has been left isolated and untouched. It seems strange that after all these years suddenly the Glidden should again be called upon to be the main access. The million dollar highways and $100,000 a mile railroads have been wrecked and washed away. Approximately fifty men were sent out from Thompson Falls Monday to repair bridges, and forest service bulldozers taken out to clear the snow and open the road. This was done with the object of supplying the Coeur d’Alenes with supplies should the communication means remain impassable. Wallace and Kellogg will surely face a serious food and supply shortage if this condition continues, and the 10,000 people in that section may get into a desperate fix. It is hoped that in future years it will not be as difficult to secure funds for the grading and improving the Glidden as it has been in the past.

70 YEARS AGO • DECEMBER 30, 1953

LEDGER LINES by K.A.E.

Friday a new year starts and we hope it is one filled with progress, the realization of new goals and the attainment of new hopes. We’d like, too, for it to be one filled with personal peace and void of personal sorrow.

Insofar as our 10A valley is concerned, we hope 1954 sees the start of the Noxon Rapids dam and the beginning of construction of a new grade school building in Thompson Falls. We’d like to see improved rural mail service between Whitepine and Trout Creek and the addition of new Grade A dairy units in the valley. We hope it's a good crop and cattle year for farmers and ranchers and a profitable year for loggers and businessmen. We’d like, too, for it to be a signally successful year for all the organizations seeking to promote community welfare and spirit.