Jon Axline is the historian at the Montana Department of Transportation. A frequent contributor to Montana The Magazine of Western History, Axline's publications include his contributions to the Helena history series More From the Quarries of Last Chance Gulch and Speaking Ill of the Dead: Jerks in Montana History. He lives in Helena, Montana, with his wife Lisa and daughters Kate and Kira.

Bridges could either unite a community or divide it, as in the case of the original Flathead River bridge at Polson. Few disputed the need for a bridge to provide a direct connection from the town to the ranch and farmland on the west side of the river. The problem was deciding which Polson street would have direct access to the bridge. Although the city commission supported an approach through Riverside Park at C Street, businessmen on B Street wanted the approach off their street. Meanwhile, as debate intensified, ranchers on the river's west side were busy building their approach even as the contractor was finishing construction of the 1,842-foot bridge in August 1910.

A week after a raucous city council meeting, the B Street supporters filed an injunction to stop C street construction. Although the injunction claimed that approach would "deprive the plaintiff of the use and enjoyment of the reserve," it was intended to give B Streeters time to develop their own plans. The next day, two men employed by B Street businessmen began to grade an approach through the park. When the men ignored an order from the mayor to stop, he arrested them. After four more arrests, the mayor officially closed B Street and the contractor barricaded the bridge, which aroused the ire of the ranchers who ignored the barricade and began using the bridge anyway.

Finally, on August 17, the various parties compromised on a solution--there would be approaches from each street. Tongue planted firmly in cheek, the newspaper reported that things were settling down, "the arrested men turned loose, the lawyers have gone fishing, the Mayor is rusticating in the hills, the Sheriff and Commissioners have come and gone, the bridge is completed and will soon have two approaches, and everybody loves his neighbor no matter which street he lives."