01/19/2026
Interesting ice read! How times have changed!!
LOOKING BACK: Ice harvest underway on Clark Fork River, 1909
“The ice harvest is on in earnest this week,” according to a news story published in the Jan. 15, 1909 issue of the Sanders County Ledger in Thompson Falls, MT. “The conditions for cutting and storing a good supply were never better and everybody was busy taking advantage of the favorable conditions. The ice is of excellent quality, and, with snow for sleighing, the ice men were able to get their summer supply put away with but little difficulty.”
Among those cutting ice, it’s reported that “E. Preston loaded a car of ice for parties at Ravalli on Wednesday.” The Preston family operated the local wagon and livery service, using his equipment to collect and then load blocks of ice for shipment via the Northern Pacific Railroad.
This same week in 1909, harvests of 24-inch thick blocks of ice are reported along the Clark Fork River near Trout Creek.
Ideally, the river was frozen so thick so horse-drawn wagons could be on the ice to pack the blocks to shore.
According to a Ledger news story from Jan. 17, 1918, mid-January did not always bring a frozen river: “The continued mildness is causing wrinkles to appear on the brows of those who have ice to store and unless colder weather sets in before long there will be a decided shortage in the crop. The prospects for a fair cutting do not seem very good at the present time as the river has not yet completely frozen over. Several thousand tons are necessary to meet the needs of the local users during the summer, and it is probable that much of it will have to be shipped in.”
After the hydroelectric dams and powerhouse began service in T-Falls in 1915, floating river ice could become a problem by jamming the “forebay” intake water gates in front of the power plant. That situation was resolved when the entire river froze.
PHOTO: This circa 1909 photo shows the “falls” at Thompson Falls, MT, with rocks covered in snow and ice. Th easily identifiable buildings in the background include the two-story Ward Hotel [we remember it as the Black Bear Hotel). The Clark Fork River in this pre-dam era was more shallow and usually, but not always, was completely frozen over in January above and below the falls. Harvesting blocks of ice was considered essential to businesses and homeowners. A good supply was needed in the winter to carry over into the summer. The need for river ice changed as electric refrigeration technology advanced, but from the 1880s into the 1900s, ice harvests were important.
