Sanders County Ledger - Your Best Source For Sanders County News

1954 PUBLICATION OF WESTERN SANDERS COUNTY

This publication was recently donated to the Old Jail Museum

WATER

This valley is traversed by the Clark’s Fork of the Columbia, a mountain river with headwaters in the Rocky Mountains near Butte, Montana joined by the Flathead River near Paradise, Montana. The headwaters of the Middle Fork of the Flathead River are formed near Glacier National Park. The North Fork is in Canada while the South Fork has its beginning 90 miles south of Glacier Park.

Numerous small mountain rivers and streams flow into the Clark Fork River as it flows westward through this valley. The water of the river is exceptionally clean and clear due to its high mountain source and the nearness of the source at this location of the source at this location of the Thompson Falls-Noxon area. An abundance of water for irrigation, power and industry flows unceasingly in this river. Here, without a doubt is the finest and greatest source of water in the whole United States remaining available for industrial use.

The average flow of the Clark Fork River at Thompson Falls, Montana, is 22,000 cu. Ft. per second. The flow is now largely controlled and sustained by two storage areas, Hungry Horse Reservoir or the South Fork near Glacier Park and Flathead Lake with Kerr Dam at the lake outlet near Polson, Montana.

At Noxon, Montana a new dam and power plant is in the process of being built with a reservoir 38 miles long extending upstream to the Thompson Falls Hydro-electric plant. Just below Noxon Rapids is Cabinet Gorge dam and power plant with a dam a half mile west of the Montana-Idaho state line. The reservoir extends to the Noxon Rapids dam, making an appreciable storage area down stream in this valley in addition to the upstream storage.

POWER

This area is fortunate in having available an exceptional block of power with 40,000 KW of Montana Power system being generated at Thompson Falls Plant located a half mile from the center of town. The Company is planning to double the present capacity of the plant. The power plant at Thompson Falls now generates 94,000 KW.

The Montana Power Company’s Thompson Falls plant is connected to the rest of the Montana Power system of the Northwest Power Pool which makes available a power supply practically unlimited so far as a new manufacturing plant is concerned. And with the completion of the Noxon Rapids Dam by the Washington Water Power Co. this county will be the greatest power generating county in the state of Montana.

Electric power supplies the energy for two sizeable sawmills and various wood manufacturing plants located in this vicinity.

Electricity is generated locally by water power. Water is the principal prime mover in this state and area. Electricity is supplied by utility transmission lines and substations. Seasonal factors do not affect the power supply. A “brown out” has never been experienced in this area. Electrical rates are lower here than the national average.

The continued explosive growth of the Pacific Northwest and the recent political events have revived great interest in and demand for erection of the so-called Paradise Dam. This would be a multi-purpose project – power, flood control, recreation and storage and could well be a half a billion dollar project and would be immediately adjacent to the Thompson Falls-Noxon area.

TRANSPORTATION

U.S. Highway #10 A (now Highway 200), which runs the entire length of the valley, is already being rapidly improved and, being a water level route, should benefit immensely under the new Federal Highway Program. From it radiate many State Federal Aid County and Forest Service roads, especially to the north and south.

Paralleling the Highway is the mainline of one of the nation’s great railroads, the Northern Pacific. The Northern Pacific Transport Co. as well as the Northern Pacific Railroad furnishes daily local passenger and express service. The region is also served by Consolidated Freightways, a big motor transport, and by one local truck line with daily service. All in all, the transportation facilities are presently adequate to meet much greater demands than now required.