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The Old Steel Bridge

By Beacon Staff

With a bit of empathy, imagination and a few historical facts, we can transcend nostalgia.

And if we let ourselves slip away from modern-day distractions, and give history an earnest thought, we can discover things we take for granted.
Things like bridges.

Think for a second: Can you name all the bridges you crossed on a recent drive? And when did you last plan your driving route around the conditions at a river crossing?

If there is any local bridge that has been taken for granted, it is the Old Steel Bridge (originally known as the “Steel Bridge” or the “Holt Stage Bridge”).

In the 1890s, many practical matters were still quite troublesome.

For example, unlike today, crossing the Flathead River was a time-consuming daily chore and required boarding a cable ferry – both ways. If conditions on the river were bad, the crossing could be perilous – if not impossible.

Back then, crossing the Flathead was a problem, and the Gillette-Herzog Manufacturing Company of Minneapolis was commissioned to engineer a solution.

Their solution was a steel “Pratt through truss” bridge erected over the Flathead River in 1894. At the time, it was nothing short of an engineering marvel (and in many ways, it still is).

The bridge was carried by freight train – and then hauled by ox cart – to the site (now just south of Highway 35, along Holt Stage Road).

From 1894 until 2008, the bridge served in daily use – and use for which it was never intended. The bridge was originally designed for pedestrians and horse-carts (the first automobile didn’t arrive in Kalispell until about 20 years later). So for the better of 80 years, the bridge suffered under the constant use of much-heavier cars and trucks.

Ultimately, in 2008, the bridge was decommissioned and likely headed to the salvage yard.

That’s when a fellow named “Crazy Pete” (likely known on official documents as Pete Skibsrud) intervened.

Pete was shocked that part of local history would just be sold for scrap. So he put down $15,000 of his own money to buy the century-old, 140-foot long, 22-ton steel bridge – stuck alongside the Old Steel Bridge Fish Access site.

While buying a “rusty old bridge” may seem crazy, Pete may be even crazier. Time is proving that anyone who thought they could give this bridge a better purpose and place is perhaps insane.

Despite Pete’s tireless efforts, he has unfortunately been unable to put the bridge to good use, even as something simple, such as part of a walking trail.

Meanwhile, officials are becoming impatient, and have recently pressured Pete to relocate the “unattractive nuisance.”

Yet, while some forsake the Old Steel Bridge, others are quite aware that it would take volumes of books to tell the history of this “nuisance.”

For example, old newspaper articles tell of community picnics at the banks of the Steel Bridge, fishing near its piers, its defiance of raging floods, and even the life-changing car accidents along its span – all of which tell its story and place in local history.
So despite the lore and iconic presence of the bridge, without a plan for the future, it slips closer to demolition every day.

It doesn’t take a clairvoyant to see the future: without help, we will lose another landmark of the “pioneer era” of the Flathead Valley.

So if you’d like to prevent the loss of a local landmark, turn a “nuisance” into a monument, and help Pete and others save the bridge, please let me know: [email protected].

JC Chaix is a writer and certified home inspector and appreciates history, art and architecture.