What she didn’t know is that she’d never see them again. Julie wrote about how excited she was for the opportunity, although she knew she’d miss her family and friends. She remembered receiving a card from Julie, telling of her plans to work in Glacier for the summer. “Of my cousins, she was my favorite,” George recalled. Her cousin, Laurie George described Julie as a “really fun, really kind, beautiful girl.” Julie Helgeson had just finished her freshman year at the University of Minnesota when she got a job working at the laundry facility in Glacier Park’s East Glacier Lodge.

Instead they remember Julie and Michele as they once were: young, vibrant and full of life.

They don’t think about the final moments, and how scary and painful it must have been. Two families, irrevocably changed.īut they don’t blame the park, or even the bears. 13, 1967, were the first fatal grizzly attacks since the park opened its gates in 1910 and later became known as the “night of the grizzlies.” The deaths of Michele and Julie stunned the nation and spurred a drastic change in bear management nationwide. Two grizzly bears killed two young women on the same night in Glacier National Park. “Oh my gosh, the mauling was so extreme you just can’t believe it,” Gildart said. Koons had been severely mauled by the bear and had extensive wounds to her stomach area. Park ranger Leonard Landa was in the middle of the pack and stopped just a few minutes into the search, turning to Gildart. Once they reached the campfire where Michele was last seen alive, they spread out and began searching along the trail. Gildart and a small troupe cut through the black night toward Trout Lake to search for yet another young woman - this time it was 19-year-old Michele Koons of San Diego, California. He said, ‘No, there’s been another mauling.’” I said ‘Norm, you’re crazy, the mauling was at Granite Park Chalet. “He said, ‘Bert, you’ve got to get up and go to Trout Lake - there’s been a mauling up there. He opened it to find dispatch ranger Norm Hagen. She was last seen screaming as she was dragged down the mountainside.įour hours after he’d passed on the news, Gildart was back at his quarters and heard a knock at the door. There had been a mauling at Granite Park Chalet.Ī grizzly bear had attacked 19-year-old Julie Helgeson, of Albert Lea, Minnesota, who’d been camping 500 yards from the popular hiking destination. The caller - a woman - needed a message relayed to park headquarters, and quickly. The fires that had been raging throughout the summer of ’67 had quelled for the night and the road patrol ranger was towing equipment over Glacier National Park’s Logan Pass. It was midnight when Bert Gildart heard the voice come over his radio.

Glacier park night of the grizzlies