This day in history: Search underway for missing Hayden Lake men who went down with plane near Montana border. Whitworth College features graduating class of two

From 1976: The search was on for two missing Hayden Lake men whose single-engine plane disappeared in the Mullan Pass area on the Montana-Idaho border.

The pilot, Harold W. Underhill Jr., sent out a distress call that afternoon, reporting that the “craft’s wings were icing badly.” Lookout Pass reported 3 inches of snow in the area that afternoon.

Between 50 and 100 searchers were combing the area north of Saltese, Montana. The plane’s emergency locator beacon was helping searchers pinpoint the spot.

From 1926: Whitworth College was preparing commencement ceremonies for its seniors – all two of them.

At a recent senior class meeting, Dorothy Brenton was named class president and vice president, and Thelma Porter was named secretary and treasurer.

That was it – the entire senior class.

It wasn’t always that way. The class started with 23 students in 1922, but Brenton and Porter were “the only ones remaining to receive a degree.”

Since Brenton was an honor student, she would be the valedictorian if the college decided to recognize one. Porter would be the salutatorian.

“Lack of numbers has not dampened their spirit,” the Chronicle wrote. “They have made plans for a ‘senior sneak’.”

Also on this day

(From onthisday.com)

1977: In one of aviation’s worst disasters, two Boeing 747s collide at Tenerife airport in Spain, killing 583 people.