Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

Two bear cubs raised havoc at the Great Northern Chalet outside of Glacier Park. The two cubs had been kept in a cage at the railroad depot for the amusement of the tourists. One day, the cubs decided they had had enough of that and escaped from their cage.

Unfortunately, they scurried underneath the main chalet and refused to come out.

The manager of the chalet was ordered by his Great Northern superiors to “catch those bears.” He kept vigil several days and nights at the entryway to the crawl space, waiting for them to come out. Nothing could lure them out.

Finally, a train conductor came up with a plan. He took some fuses and threw them under the crawl space in the direction of the bears. The cubs tried to put them out with their paws, to no avail. Soon the sulfur fumes were too much for the bears, which suddenly made a beeline for the entrance.

Three men, peering in “to see the fun,” were standing in the way. The panicked bears knocked all three men down like bowling pins and then ran into the laundry room in the basement.

This proved to be a mistake. There was no way out. The cubs were “finally overpowered after a hard struggle” and returned to their cage.