On August 17, 1959 at 11:37 p.m. (MST) the ground began to shake roughly 10 miles to the northwest of West Yellowstone in Madison Canyon resulting in the strongest and deadliest earthquake to ever strike Montana — It caused a huge landslide that blocked the flow of the Madison river, caused 28 fatalities, and created ‘Quake Lake’.
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The U.S. Weather Bureau reported at the time that the quake lasted 30–40 seconds. During the earthquake the surrounding landscape dropped as much as 20 feet and shock waves caused numerous seiches to surge across Hebgen Lake for 12 hours. Water pushed by the seiches poured over the dam which did not collapse. Several aftershocks ranging from 5.8 to 6.3 were reported after the quake.
The earthquake struck in Madison Canyon, an area to the west of Yellowstone National Park. Several nearby campgrounds were occupied by vacationing campers and tourists at the time.
State Highway 287 slumped into Hebgen Lake — Although magnitude estimates for the 1959 earthquake vary (the United States Geological Survey recorded the quake at both 7.3 and 7.5, now calculated by the ISC as 7.2 Mw) the 1959 earthquake is comparable to the 1906 San Francisco earthquake as one of the strongest earthquakes in North America, behind the 1964 magnitude 9.2 Good Friday earthquake in Alaska.
The 1959 earthquake is also the most severe earthquake in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States along with the 6.9 magnitude earthquake which struck Idaho in 1983. The landslide caused by this quake was the largest since an earthquake in Wyoming in 1925 caused a landslide amounting to 50 million cubic yards of rock and debris that left 28 people dead.
The death toll from the quake was also the highest since the 1925 earthquake and most recent for the Northwestern United States since an earthquake in 1927 that left seven people dead. The 1959 earthquake was also the most damaging earthquake to occur in Montana since the 1935–36 earthquakes that left four people dead. The Hebgen Lake area also experienced earthquakes again in 1964, 1974, 1977 and 1985.
New geysers and cracks sprouted up in nearby Yellowstone National Park. Near Old Faithful, the earthquake damaged the Old Faithful Inn, forcing guests there to evacuate.
Landslides caused by the quake blocked a road between Mammoth and Old Faithful, damaging a bridge inside the park. There was one reported injury when a woman broke her wrist. The earthquake also created fault scarps as high as 20 feet, causing extensive damage to roads, homes, and buildings. In Belgrade, Montana the earthquake damaged measuring equipment placed in a 100-foot water well. The quake also knocked out telephone communications between Bozeman and Yellowstone, with the city of Bozeman itself suffering moderate quake damage to homes and buildings. Buildings at the Montana State University campus also sustained quake damage. In Butte, the quake caused a pendulum clock to stop at 12:42 a.m.(MST) and caused minor damage to homes.
Areas around Hebgen Lake were also affected as the quake caused parts of the lake to rise eight feet. Roads and highways running along the shores of the lake collapsed into the water. In Ennis, most residents were evacuated due to concern Hebgen Lake might flood the town. The evacuation was subsequently called off when it became known the landslide had blocked the river’s flow. In West Yellowstone, the earthquake damaged a courthouse and a railroad station.
The Libertarian Party appears to be gaining ground in 2020
Libertarians believe in the goodness of people. Libertarians believe that all people are endowed by their creator with natural rights, including the rights of life, liberty, and property. The ultimate goal of the Libertarian Party is to achieve a social structure in which initiatory coercive force is illegal.
According to the Libertarian:
For the 2020 election cycle, Presidential candidate Jo Jorgensen has over 1,788,000 votes, which is the second-best showing for an LP presidential candidate, following Gary Johnson’s performance in 2016.
Indiana LP candidate for Governor Donald Rainwater received 11.4% of the vote, the second-best ever for an LP gubernatorial candidate, behind Dick Randolph who got 14.9% in Alaska in 1982.
Ricky Harrington, running for the US Senate in Arkansas against Republican incumbent Tom Cotton, got 33.3% of the vote, the best ever result for a federal candidate, besting Joel Balam’s 31.5 in the Kansas third congressional district race in 2012.
Preston Nelson finished with 29% of the vote in his race for the Illinois 8th congressional district, tying Joe Miller of Alaska for third-best ever for a federal candidate. Mr. Miller received 29% in his 2016 US Senate race in Alaska.
In West Virginia, candidate for Governor Erika Kolenich received 2.9% of the vote, securing ballot access for another four years. And in Wyoming, Richard Brubaker, running for the US House seat, also received 3%, retaining ballot access for two more years. The New Mexico LP retained major party status, as Stephen Curtis, running for position 2 for Judge of the Court of Appeals got 7% of the vote.
If some of these numbers sound small to you, and you’re somehow convinced that there just isn’t any way to beat the Democrats or Republicans, it might be important to remember that President Lincoln only got 32% of the popular vote running on a 4th party platform. That’s all it took to turn things around back in 1861.