LIBBY, Mont. - For years, this mountain town in northwest Montana held a dark secret close to its breast. Tucked away near the Idaho border, 70 miles from the Canadian line, Libby is a utilitarian town. Four busy lanes of Highway 2, the main thoroughfare from Spokane to Glacier National Park and to the ski resort at Big Mountain, cut through its center. Libby was founded to accommodate the Great Northern Railroad, and its streets run perpendicular to the depot. Beyond the railroad tracks, the wild Kootenai River marks the town’s northern border.

An occasional logging truck still rumbles down Main Street on its way to mills in Whitefish and Columbia Falls... (Read More)