This week, we salute a Valentine – not the day, but the man: Valentine H. Coombes. In the 1890s, his name was ubiquitous, appearing on dozens and dozens of legal documents, mostly timber land purchases.
Missoula was filled with bootleggers and smugglers during prohibition. Those who would build stills in the wilderness and create moonshine, and those who would smuggle Canadian whiskey into the valley from our friends up north.
“Live, by remote control,” direct from the studio in the Hammond Arcade, it’s “Paul Keith and His Arcade Orchestra!” That’s right, Missoula's Hammond Arcade had its own orchestra, appearing on its own radio show (the Hammond Radio Review) for the downtown building’s grand opening in 1934.
It’s a birdwatcher’s paradise this time of year. The annual southern migration of the “Northern Snowbird” is underway to destinations like Palm Springs, California; Destin, Florida; Phoenix, Arizona; and numerous locations in Mexico, Costa Rica and Hawaii. It's a longstanding phenomenon in these parts.