Your Best Source For Sanders County News
Your Best Source For Sanders County News
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10 YEARS AGO • AUGUST 11, 1960 SANDERS COUNTY FARM STATISTICS Sanders County now has 493 farms compared to 591 five years ago according to the 1959 census of agriculture statistics released yesterday by the Bureau of the Census. The average size farm in the county is 830.1 acres and the average value of farms, including land and buildings, is $32,133. The number of acres of farmland dropped from 495,740 in 1954 to 409,219. Of the county’s farm operators, 262 own their farms, 187 own part of the land and rented additional acreage, and 40 are...
8 YEARS AGO • JULY 19, 1944 BROWN MILL BURNS The Brown lumber mill caught fire and burned just as the noon shift was coming on work Wednesday. Sparks from the burner must have ignited the mill, and once started and fanned by a strong wind, the mill went up in smoke in no time. The town fire department went out, but it was useless to do anything. Any saw mill is usually saturated with oil, and shavings and other inflammable materials are everywhere. The loss experienced is speculative on our part, but we would say offhand at least $40,000 w...
6 YEARS AGO • AUGUST 21, 1919 TO GATHER EXHIBITS FOR FAIR Dr. L.G. Helterline, the secretary of the County Fair announces that two cars (the cars referred to are railroad cars) will be sent to the west end of the county to gather up material for the County Fair. The same plan will be followed as at the last fair. The two cars will come up as far as Trout Creek and, as expenses are paid by the fair management, exhibits are taken to the fair and returned without cost to the owners. A car and a half will be used for livestock and half a car f...
3 YEARS AGO • JULY 21, 1994 SUMMERFEST TO ENTERTAIN CITY THIS WEEKEND A wealth of activities await residents and visitors who attend the first Thompson Falls Summer Festival this weekend. From sidewalk sales beginning Friday, a melodrama and variety show Saturday and the final event Sunday, the weekend promises to offer something for everyone and all should have a great time. The festival will hopefully develop into an annual event, says organizer Larry Hull. He and others have been promoting, planning and getting ready for the three days o...
13 YEARS AGO • JULY 21, 1948 NEW MOTEL The new Falls Motel, located one-half block off the highway west in the city limits, is now open to the public. It is one of the finest, with eight double unit sleeping rooms, all modern and electrically heated and the quarters are nice and roomy. Mr. and Mrs. Fred Moore, the proprietors, have their living quarters and office in the first unit. Moores are to be congratulated on completion of their fine establishment. 64 YEARS AGO • JUNE 9, 1960 PICNIC PEST Ants aren’t the only uninvited guests that appear...
5 YEARS AGO • JUNE, 1974 FIREMEN GO TO FISH FRY Thompson Falls firemen went to a fish fry Thursday as guests of Superintendent O.L. (Rip) Holo, but he hadn’t exactly planned it that way. A fish smoker in a shed at the rear of the Holo residence malfunctioned resulting in fire damage to one wall and part of the roof of the shed. GAMBLES BIG FISH CONTEST (Ad) Go fishing, catch a big one and win a prize! Remington semi-automatic .22 rifle ($54.95 value) for largest Rainbow or Native trout Fly Rod & Reel for largest Bull Trout or Pike Spi...
6 YEARS AGO • JULY 3, 1919 HERON GENERAL STORE ROBBED Robbers Secure $3,150 in Money and Goods on Friday Night The general store of Kinney Honberger at Heron, near the Idaho line, was robbed of goods and money valued at $3,150 by two men shortly before midnight on last Friday night and the proprietor and one customer were held up, tied up, and put in the cellar where they finally worked themselves loose and notified Sheriff Hartman. The goods stolen consisted of $1,500 in Liberty bonds, $700 in thrift stamps, $750 in cash and three cases o...
5 YEARS AGO • MAY 9, 1974 SWIMMING POOL PROPOSAL STUDIED The possibility of constructing a junior olympic size swimming pool with half of the cost being funded by Bureau of Outdoor Recreation funds was explored Monday evening at a meeting of the city, school trustees and representatives of various local civic organizations. Fred Statson, swimming coach at the University of Montana and Tom Greenwood of the Montana Dept. of Fish & Game, which handles BOR fund allocations in Montana, explained the program whereby a new pool 45 by 75 feet could b...
4 YEARS AGO • JULY 5, 1984 RESIDENTS REVEAL FAVORITE LOCAL ATTRACTIONS A lot of folks enjoy a vacation or business trip to the west to get into the mountains and the trees. For the folks in Thompson Falls who like to show off the area it’s trees, mountains and lots more. The Ledger queried local residents this past week to find out some of the attractions nearby that draw visitors here for a visit, campout or hunting trip. Norma Draszt, past president of theThompson Falls Jaycee Women, likes to take visitors to the Sanders County Fair, the...
6 YEARS AGO • JUNE 18, 1964 CHERRY CREEK BRIDGE ORDERED Repairs to county roads and bridges damaged or washed out by last week’s flood are being made as quickly as possible, County Commissioner Jesse W. Lee reported this week. Lee said he ordered material Monday for a new bridge across Cherry Creek and that it will be built as quickly as possible. The Curran and Saint families now can reach their homes only by a temporary footbridge erected last week by county employees. A culvert washed out at Bear Creek on the Blue Slide was being rep...
6 YEARS AGO • JUNE 18, 1964 FLOOD DAMAGED ROAD REPAIR WORK STARTED Local bulldozers and operators employed by the Forest Service will begin an onslaught today to repair flood damage to the Graves and Deep Creek roads, District Ranger Irwin Puphal announced. Puphal said Jim Carrico and Dick Nichols will begin work this morning on the Graves Creek road which has 20 known washouts and the second bridge gone. In addition, much of the road’s surfacing has been washed away by side streams. Carl Hillquist is to begin work today with his dozer on the...
6 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 towards repairing damages 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 and was still rising. Only the 1950 and 1948 high water flows surpassed Wednesday’s flow here and the report is, “more is coming.” 1948 wa...
11 YEARS AGO • JUNE 9, 1960 TF SWIMMING POOL TO OPEN WEDNESDAY Thompson Falls’ heated community swimming pool will open for the summer Wednesday. Miss Nancy Friday has been employed as lifeguard and John Duffield will be an assistant. The pool will be open for three two-hour shifts daily Tuesday through Sunday of each week. It will be closed Mondays for cleaning. Children up to 10 years old who are able to take care of themselves will swim daily from 1 to 3 p.m. Boys and girls 10 years and older will swim from 3 to 5 p.m. and adults and familie...
6 YEARS AGO • MAY 14, 1964 MAIN STREET FILLED WITH BUSINESS SHIFTS Spring is time for a change and nowhere is change more evident this spring than in the business community of Thompson Falls. This week announcements were made of two major shifts - sale of the Big Pine Tourist Court (most recently known as Little Bear) and the scheduled move of the Stobie Shopping Center (from the building now housing True Value) to the former’s Vet Club Hall this weekend. These changes are but two among more than in the past 12-month period involving 20 whi...
6 YEARS AGO • FEBRUARY 1964 CITY TO DONATE SCHOOL SITE The city council Monday agreed to make available to School District 2 from 20 to 25 acres in the old golf course area as a future school building site. Before a formal transfer of ground is made to the school district, the city council will have to have a survey made to determine the number of available acres remaining on the old golf course. Other details of the transfer would have to be worked out between the city attorney and the school district’s legal council. The council ind...
8 YEARS AGO • MAY 24, 1944 HIT OR MISS Running a newspaper is getting to be a tougher job every year. Part of the reason is bookkeeping. Years ago when we first started in we didn’t have to keep books. Whatever we took in we threw in the jack-pot, and then kept drawing out of the pot until it was empty. Of course most of the time the pot was empty, but we didn’t have to make any accounting. Now it is different - every dime you take in you have to keep a record of for income tax deduction purposes. No ifs, ands or buts! At that our recor...
THE HOT CORNER BUSINESS IN DOWNTOWN THOMPSON FALLS Compiled by Patrick J. Sullivan A corner lot on Railroad Avenue, now known as Main Street or Highway 200, across from the railroad depot is possibly the most continuously occupied business space in Thompson Falls. The corner first hosted the two-story Harrison Hotel, a wooden building, during the prospector boom days of 1884 known as the "Coeur d'Alene excitement." Dr. E. Peek arrived in Trout Creek in 1901 and by 1905 had also opened a drug...
6 YEARS AGO • MAY 8, 1919 IMPROVING LARGE RANCH The Clarks Fork Land and Cattle Co., of which H.A. White is manager, is preparing to do considerable development work on their large tract of land east of town on Woodlin flat. Mr. White has opened up a camp and has two tractor plowing outfits in operation at this time, a number of teams, and expects to have another tractor working by the end of the week, and seed at least 100 acres to alfalfa during the summer. It is the intention of the company to stock their ranch, which comprises some 5...
4 YEARS AGO • MAY 17, 1984 GOVERNOR PROPOSED SIX COUNTY WILD AREAS Six roadless areas in Sanders County national forest lands have been recommended by Governor Ted Schwinden to Congress for designation to the Federal Wilderness System. Of the six areas in Sanders County, four areas are additions to the established Cabinet Mountains Wilderness and two others - Scotchman Peaks and Cube Iron - would constitute new wilderness. Sanders County areas recommended for wilderness status in addition to the 45,115-acre Scotchman Peaks are: Lolo Forest -...
6 YEARS AGO FEBRUARY 27, 1919 SUCCESSFUL TELEPHONE MEETING AT WHITEPINE A great deal of interest was shown in the telephone meeting at Whitepine Saturday evening. Fred Foote reported that he had secured 17 signers for the telephone in the vicinity of Belknap and Big Beaver. Four people from across the river are also ready to put in telephones. The report of the committee was followed by a lively discussion in which various ideas were presented. A motion was made, seconded and carried that a co-operative phone company be organized. After more...
7 YEARS AGO • APRIL 29, 1954 FEASIBILITY OF NOXON RAPIDS DAM TO BE DETERMINED THIS SUMMER The Washington Water Power Co. expects to determine feasibility of the proposed Noxon Rapids dam sometime this summer according to a spokesman for the utility. He also declared that it was possible that another 350,000 kilowatts of new power could be developed at the site. Currently three diamond drilling rigs are drilling tests for possible wing locations and to check the clay blanket along the reservoir shoreline. Last week the churn drilling rigs h...
4 YEARS AGO • APRIL 26, 1984 FOREST SERVICE CHOOSES PLAINS Orville Daniels, Supervisor of the Lolo National Forest, announced the decision not to seek a new lease for office space in Thompson Falls. That decision came after four months of exploring possibilities of how best to operate the combined offices of the Plains-Thompson Falls Ranger district. Last November, the forest service announced that they were reconsidering an earlier decision made to move the district headquarters to Thompson Falls. They felt economics favored the move to P...
4 YEARS AGO • MARCH 29, 1984 EDNA HILL LEADS A RUGGED REWARDING LIFE by Linda Shaffer Continued from last week… During her childhood in Trout Creek mainly - a few years in Polson - Edna recalls all eight grades being housed in one room. “There were three of us in the eighth grade. I still have my report cards.” It was a frame building sawed out by her granddad, she says. High school for Edna was in Thompson Falls, boarding at the dorm during the week and riding the train home on Fridays. “We liked catching the #3 train back to Trout Creek on F...
4 YEARS AGO • MARCH 29, 1984 EDNA HILL LEADS A RUGGED REWARDING LIFE by Linda Shaffer Mainly, she is a mountain woman. And she has been all her “39 years.” Edna Hill at her ranch in Trout Creek smiles amidst trophies of elk and other wild game she has hunted and photographed over the years. And hunters she has guided have warned others about her. “Watch out for that woman in Montana…she’ll walk you to death,” they say. Hill has been guiding new hunters in Sanders County’s rough mountain country for over 40 years of her adult life. And if th...
7 YEARS AGO • MARCH 11, 1999 REALIZATION OF DREAM EVIDENT IN NEW CENTER The realization of a long-held dream was shared with over 140 people when the Thompson Falls Senior Citizens formally dedicated their new center east of town. Members of the group were understandingly beaming as they freely gave tours through the building for the many guests. Elthea Butcher, the secretary for the group, said the structure was financed primarily from their savings from years of fundraisers and dues and then the package was completed by a zero-interest l...
