Voices from the Past

April 11, 1924

Powder River Raises Hell In General

Powder River again became the subject of conversation in general the past week for the depredations it was committing along almost its entire course. The high water found it changing its channel in places and destroying property. Friday night it took out the west approach to the steel bridge at Broadus.

On Monday Oscar Pemberton and others tried to get a line across the river by shooting a broomstick handle from a shotgun. The string persisted in tangling and made the stick fall short each time, but persevering, a cable was finally put over the river Tuesday and tied to a tree for it was this cable that the telephone wire was to be repaired. Tuesday night the tree was washed away and with it the cable.

Thursday afternoon at “Cully’s” Garage a flat ferry boat was built by E. Culbertson, W.J. Schroeder, Derb Leslie, and C.T. Nellans. Equipped with a rudder and wired to four empty gasoline barrels for buoyancy, the flat scow was loaded on a wagon this afternoon and hauled to the river. There it was christened “The Drylander” without much ceremony. This flat boat is 8 by 13 feet and will carry passengers and freight across the river.

April 15, 1949

Ask Property owners to Cleanup Premises

Broadus property owners should clean up their vacant lots this spring was the opinion of the town council at the meeting on Monday night. Town Marshall Ben Patten was instructed to notify all persons having trash on their premises that constitutes a public nuisance, to have the trash hauled to the city dump immediately or be summoned into court to explain to the judge why such action cannot be taken. If places are not cleaned up within a short time, the town may clean the vacant lots and assess the costs to the owner.

Every Car will be stopped on Highways and Lights, Brakes and Licenses Inspected

Patrolman S.W. Hancock of Miles City was in Broadus Monday at the Courthouse giving examinations for drivers licenses. He said that 4 out of 11 who took the test failed. All of them failed on the written portion of the test.

Patrolman Heacock stressed the necessity of those drivers who do not have licenses getting them at the earliest possible time. He will be in Broadus May 9th and June 13th to again give the tests.

The patrolman said the Highway Patrol would within the next few weeks start a campaign to test the lights and brakes of all cars on the highways. Every car will be stopped and examined. At this time the driver will be asked for his license and a severe penalty will be the reward to those who do not have a current license.

April 15, 1999

And Then the Seniors went Skiing by Cassa Grant

Reprinted from The Talon (School Newspaper)

“Snowplow” is a word that many of the Seniors came to know as their best friend after the annual class trip on March 29th., as we precariously slipped down the Mountain. Departing from the High School at 4:30 am, we bused our way to Red Lodge with our valiant chaperones, Mr. Childress, Mrs. Lemke and Mr. Stone. Tom Robinson did a wonderful job of driving the bus. We arrived at 10 am and were highly advised to attend ski school, where we amateurs could learn a few basics and much needed tips on how not to break, sprain or otherwise mutilate any fairly essential body parts. Several of the class also decided to try snowboarding!!

After an hour of ski school, it was onto the ski lift to the treacherous Bunny Slope! The lift provided a wonderful vantage point from which to observe the many and colorful wipe-outs taking place below, and this was also a great place for thinking about how badly it was going to hurt to orchestrate your own.

A few noteworthy wipeouts were those of Dallas Traub, Jesse Fleming, and Matt Borchgrevink. Poor Dallas was attempting to slow down his snowboard by dragging his hands along in the snow. Disaster struck however, and his right thumb was pulled out of joint. But Dallas did gain an extension to his field trip that the rest of us didn’t; he toured the Red Lodge Hospital.

Jesse, being one of those brave few who chose to forgo the boredom of ski school, had not just one, but several highly entertaining wipe outs. My personal favorite was his “wrap- around- the tree” that many of us were fortunate enough to witness. It was a good idea to keep the deathtrap (otherwise known as Jesse Fleming) in front of you, where you could watch every move he made and keep a wide berth.

Matt Borchgrevink was a snowboarder, as well, but one of the “more experienced” ones, (he had gone snowboarding once before.) As I understand it, Matt lost his balance while attempting a speedy ride down the mountain and tumbled down the rest of the way with his feet in the air, and in several other positions that probably weren't too comfortable.

We were exhausted and hungry upon our return to the bus, and thanks to the hard work of our President, Mandy Samuelson, we were able to enjoy a lovely meal at Red Lobster. Thank you very much, Mandy, for all your hard work in planning a successful trip. We had a great time - too bad we can’t go together again. (Or maybe that’s a good thing.)