Fishing Pier, Polson, Montana

We've long been fascinated by the old fishing pier at Sacajawea Park, on Flathead Lake in Polson, Montana. When we first visited Polson in the '90s, this pier was a “T”-shaped structure and was in regular year-round use by fishermen. At the end of a center causeway of rip-rap filled timbers was a long wooden pier, obviously quite old and in poor condition. As it continued to deteriorate, the city's response was to fence off one of the upper sections of the T. Part of this section fell into the lake in the mid-2000s; the city then removed the rest of the section.

As the second arm of the T decayed this too was fenced off. Cleary, its days were numbered, and we determined to make a series of photos before the remaining structure collapsed. At the end of March, 2011, the city tore down the remaining arm of the T and fenced the end of the center causeway. It's unclear what the next move will be. Fortunately, we got a set of photos of the pier, starting in January, and ending just days before the pier was removed. Gone, but not forgotten.

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October, 2003: Fishing in morning fog on Flathead Lake in northwest Montana, U.S.

A February (2004) sunset lights the Swan Range across Flathead lake in northwest Montana.

January 27, 2011: lifting fog hides the Mission Mountains and much of Flathead Lake. The old fishing pier would stand for another 60 days.

March 1, 2011: Snow and ice cover the old pier, three weeks before it was torn down.

March 9, 2011: Close-up view of ice on the old pier, less than two weeks before it was torn down. (Black & white)

March 9, 2011: A panorama of the pier, lake, and mountains.