Tense moments in frigid river drama

By CHRIS PETERSON / Hungry Horse News

A despondent man was eventually coaxed out of the frigid waters of the Middle Fork of the Flathead on Tuesday afternoon in West Glacier.

The man apparently was disruptive on the Amtrak train and was kicked off at the Belton train station.

He then went down to the river and entered the water from the south bank. He made his way across the river and had a standoff with Flathead County Sheriff's deputies and Glacier National Park rangers, who were on the north bank.

Despite pleas from rangers and from deputies, the man, who they called "Lou," refused to leave the water " standing in the frigid current about 20 feet from shore, soaked to the skin.

The man fell in the water from a standing position at least three times and was visibly suffering from hypothermia, as the air temperature was in the 20s.

Rangers threw the man a safety line but he refused to take it. The Park boundary is the high-water mark of the north shore of the river.

Park rangers had just suited up with chest waders when North Valley Search and Rescue volunteer Jim Livingston, who was wearing hunting boots, entered the water with a pair of handcuffs.

When the man reached for Livingston's hand, Livingston, after talking to the man briefly, cuffed him and coaxed him into shore. The man did not resist, but he swore at Livingston for cuffing him.

The man was then wrapped up in blankets and put on a stretcher, where he was taken to the hospital via Three Rivers Ambulance.

Also assisting at the scene was Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks warden Perry Brown.

Apparently when rescuers first approached the man, he kept moving out into the water, which is below 40 degrees.

The initial call came in shortly after noon and the man was removed from the water about 1:45 p.m.

His full name was not available.