Senior Spotlight: George Heinselman of Hot Springs

Lloyd George Heinselman was born in 1947 in Lakeport, California, north of San Francisco. He grew up in Trinity Alps west of Mount Shasta. "We lived in a house that used to be a stage stop between Redding, CA and Oregon," Heinselman recalls. He talked of going to eighth grade in a saloon while the new school was being built. First the saloon was a mercantile in the 1800s. There was an old carriage house across the street from the saloon/school.

His mom taught him how to cook at a young age. "All of us kids knew how to cook. My mom made sure. I have two older sisters. I remember camping, four or five years old, frying bacon." Heinselman said the best memories of living there were of holiday cooking and baking. "The whole process: a steamy hot kitchen with lots of good smells and going sledding. When we got too cold we would go back into a warm kitchen to cook and bake." The kitchen and living room were the only rooms with wood stoves. That was the only heat in the house, Heinselman said.

Heinselman joined the army during the Vietnam era and was a supply cook. "I went to Okinawa, Japan, for a tour," he said. After the army he came to Montana to work in the smelter in Opportunity near Anaconda. "I met my wife Peggy. She moved to Montana in the 50's. We raised two sons who graduated from Hot Springs. And now I have two granddaughters and two grandsons."

Heinselman spent twenty years on the volunteer Hot Springs Fire Department, ten on wildland fire and several on the ambulance. "I got certified through the tribe for HAZMAT operations level training. That was the time of the Unabomber and Freeman standoff. I didn't make it to the Alberton train wreck, because I was working at the school that day. I had EMT and triage training in Missoula. I worked on the Bonneville fire at the power station. All surrounding departments showed up. We just tried to cool the propane tank, but couldn't put the fire out."

In 1981 to 1994 Heinselman worked at Little Bitterroot Services in Plains in the wood shop. His last job was at the Hot Springs School as a paraprofessional aid in the special education department from 1994 to 2012. "I liked working in the school with the kids the most, having the opportunity to mold them."

His passions are hiking and history. If he can hike to an old abandoned mining town, life is good. Native American history and railroad history fill his home in books, photos and maps. Heinselman said his current attention has been on the town of Taft, located between St. Regis and Lookout Pass off the interstate.

In 2016 Heinselman and his brother-in-law began hiking to several places, Taft being one of them. They hiked all the lakes between Thompson Pass and Superior, and hiked to more than 20 mines, including Rock Creek, Heidelberg Mine and the Trout Creek Keystone Mine.

"I love the land and terrain. When I fought wildland fires I had the chance to get into places and meet people in places I would never normally go." Heinselman said he likes learning about the history of the areas he lives in. He likes the openness of Montana, fewer people and the land and its history.