Time Capsule: Iwo Jima, Leash law, Bridge contract, Water-quality regulations
Flathead Courier, March 1, 1945
Local man climbs up Iwo Peak
Pfc. Louis Charlo, formerly of Evaro and Polson, was one of the first four men to scale Mount Suribachi on the southern tip of Iwo Jima, it has been learned.
The first four marines to reach the highest point of the 566-foot cone arrived at the summit two hours before a patrol planted the American flag on the captured volcanic cone on Feb. 23.
With Pfc. Charlo in the ascent were two marines from Iowa and one from Kansas.
Farmers required to submit points
Farm slaughterers are required to surrender points to their local board for any rationed meat they sell and which was derived from animals which they slaughtered, said OPA (Office of Price Administration) today.
The same applies to butter and cheese produced by them. They are also required to report to the board on Form R-1609.
It is said that there have been numerous violations of these regulations and that enforcement action is now being taken. Farmers should be informed as to what is required of them, said OPA, and warned to comply strictly.
Flathead Courier, March 4, 1965
Dog control “Leash Law” Referendum to be on ballot
The voice of the people will be heard on the matter of dog problems within the City of Polson at the April 5 municipal election.
Monday night the council at the the request of a citizen delegation took action to place on the ballot a referendum calling for approval or disapproval of a “leash law” which will be designed to control stray dogs within the city limits.
Details of the referendum and the estimated cost of dog control will be spelled out by a city council committee before the ballots are printed.
Public approval of a leash law, councilmen felt, would give city officials encouragement in conducting a dog control program, which always seems to turn into a controversial project regardless of how it is done.
Polson bridge contract is awarded
The contract for construction of a near $1,000,000 bridge over the Flathead River at Polson was awarded last week by the State Highay Commission to Paul Jarvis, Inc., Seattle contracting firm. The Jarvis bid was $981,344.
The project will be started within a matter of weeks. – possibly as soon as April 1. Estimated completion date is October 1966.
The bridge will be 1,536 feet in length; be of pre-stressed concrete material; have a 65-foot center span; and be 13 feet above the high-water elevation of 2,893 feet.
The new bridge will be located just downriver from the present wooden structure built in 1927 and 1928. Traffic will continue as at present over the wooden bridge until the new structure is completed.
Leader, March 2, 1995
Raising the Flag: Local marine played role on Iwo Jima
A half-century ago today, Marine PFC Louis Charles Charlo was killed in action during the bloody fight over a small piece of volcanic island real estate called Iwo Jima, owned and occupied by the Japanese government.
Many Mission Valley students growing up in the 1950s and 1960s may know that one of the first marines to put a flag on Mt. Suribachi, Iwo Jima’s 566-foot peak, was a local man.
Some people may think it was Pima Indian Ira Hayes, immortalized by Life magazine photographer Joe Rosenthal and the memorial based on that photo in Arlington National Cemetery.
But Louis Charlo, great-grandson of the famous Flathead Chief Charlo, and his three Marine companions got to the summit of Mt. Suribachi first. Not only did they mount the dusty heights two hours before the patrol that raised the famous flag that February day in 1945, they planted the first American flag there.
PFC Charlo’s last letter, written to his parents Antoine and Mary Gertrude Mitchell Charlo from the base of Mt. Suribachi, modestly characterized his participation as “part of the fracas.” A week later the elder Charlos were notified by a telegram that the 18 year old had joined some 5,600 other young marines who made the final sacrifice for their country …
Charlo enlisted in the marines in November 1943 as a 17-year-old volunteer. At the time of his death on March 2, 1945, Charlo had been in the Pacific for seven months …
The young man was finally laid to rest, with military honors, in the St. Ignatius Catholic Cemetery on April 24, 1948. If Charlo had lived, he would now be 68 and among the youngest of the Americans who fought in World War II.
EPA gives Tribes water quality lead
The Lake County Commissioners are blasting this week’s Environmental Protection Agency decision to let the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes set quality standards for surface water on the Flathead Reservation.
“We have no problem about the Tribes regulating their lands,” said Commissioner Mike Hutchin. “When it spills over on fee lands, they are out of bounds.”
The EPA ruling caps a lengthy application process that the Tribes had initiated several years ago. Under amendments to the federal Clean Water Act, EPA can essentially choose to recognize Indian tribes as states for taking the lead in developing water quality standards.
County and state officials contend that the amendments do not take away state primacy for water quality …
Hutchin said that two permits may thus be required, and they may have different standards. “Who will have the enforcement authority?” he asked.