Tag Archives: Kintla Lake

Still Kintla Lake ranger at age 93

I’ve met Lyle Ruterbories — nice guy. And still driving that Volkswagen Beetle of his up to Kintla Lake each year to serve as the ranger . . .

There’s a 40-foot spruce tree tucked in the back of the Kintla Lake Ranger Station, swaying in the wind. When Lyle Ruterbories started as the ranger there, the tree was only waist high.

Ruterbories is 93. He’s been watching over Kintla Lake and its campground every summer for 22 years now. This may be his last summer, he hasn’t decided yet. He has a cranky knee now that hurts with every step. But whatever happens, it’s been a glorious career in a glorious place.

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An ideal backdrop for relaxation and reflection

The Missoulian has a flattering travel article about Polebridge and the surrounding area . . .

This is the perfect place to celebrate a birthday.

Tucked along the edge of Glacier National Park, this iconic town proved an ideal backdrop for relaxation and reflection as another year passes. Not that you need a reason to visit, however. Polebridge is good for the soul any time and on any occasion – and did just the trick on a recent visit with good friends and great food.

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Montana’s first oil well was up the North Fork near Kintla Lake

The Daily Inter Lake has a story about boom and bust oil exploration in Montana, including its beginnings in 1901 near Kintla Lake . . .

The history of oil in Montana began in an area that never had any substantial development of the natural resource — the Flathead Valley.

The state’s first oil well was drilled by Butte Oil Co. in 1901 in the Kintla Lake area that’s now part of Glacier National Park.

American Indians and fur trappers knew about oil seeps in that area and early-day prospectors wondered about the potential for oil when bear hides sold at Tobacco Plains smelled of kerosene, according to a historical overview of mining in Montana compiled by the U.S. Forest Service.

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