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History group presentation focuses on prehistoric lake

| April 22, 2022 12:00 AM

The Northwest Montana Posse of Westerners history organization’s next meeting will be Monday, April 25.

Posse member Jim Sheldon of Missoula will present “After the Dam, Rush to the Gorge'' when the posse resumes hosting its popular series on Glacial Lake Missoula.

The series returns with explanations and illustrations of the devastation downstream after great ice dams in the Idaho mountains burst and 2,000 feet of ice-choked water was released from Glacial Lake Missoula, which stretched 3,000 square miles around Missoula and multiple dams burst and releasing flood waters across Washington, down the Columbia River into Oregon before reaching the Pacific Ocean. The Ice Age floods forever changed the lives and landscape of the Pacific Northwest

Shelden is president of the Glacial Lake Missoula Chapter of the Ice Age Flood Institute. Educated in geology at the University of Idaho, over his career he worked with the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service spending time on stability landslides, soil lab geophysics, mineral law, permits regulation for environmental requirements for coal, oil and gas, caves, groundwater and paleontology. He retired in 2009 as U.S. Forest Service regional geologist for Region 1.

The meeting will be held in the Northwest Montana History Museum, 124 Second Ave. E. in Kalispell, starting at 6 p.m. for a Grab’n’ Greet session and book raffle and signings by local authors. There will be no dinner. The presentation is at 7 p.m., which is free for members and youths 16 and under. Non-members may attend at a cost of $5. Based on the past large attendance for the programs, registrations will be required, or at the door on a first-come, first-serve basis. Call 406-752-9642 (Leave a message with all attendee names and phone numbers); or send an email to kbrittonrn@gmail.com with the same information.

Posse members may also participate in the program livestream via Zoom by contacting tim.chris@yahoo.com for registration and instructions.