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APRIL 1, 2015 | 25 LAKESIDE
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RETRACING SCIENTOLOGY FOUNDER HUBBARD’S ROOTS IN KALISPELL
On March 29, HBO aired the two- hour documentary “Going Clear: Scien- tology and the Prison of Belief,” a film by Alex Gibney based on Lawrence Wright’s book. The film features ex-Church of Scientology members and officials re- vealing secrets of the organization and making claims of physical and psycho- logical abuse. It also delves into the life of the church’s controversial founder, L. Ron Hubbard, who was a prolific sci- ence fiction and fantasy author before he developed a self-help system called Dianetics in the early 1950s. The ide- ologies of Dianetics evolved into a book by the same name and this became the foundation for Hubbard’s new religious movement of Scientology, which today includes high-profile members Tom Cruise and John Travolta.
A little known fact about Hubbard is that before creating this new move- ment, he was a boy growing up in West- ern Montana.
Born in Nebraska in 1911, Hubbard spent his formative years in Kalispell and Helena. His family moved to Ka- lispell in 1912 after Hubbard’s father, Harry Ross Hubbard, got a job at a lo- cal newspaper. They reportedly lived in a home near downtown, and Hubbard spent his infant days playing in the back- yard.
During this period, according to ac- counts from the Church of Scientology, young Ron encountered a Blackfeet In- dian tribe holding a ceremony on the outskirts of Kalispell and the young child danced and impressed the tribal elders. This incident formed the early bonds between Hubbard and the tribe, according to Hubbard.
Later, when Hubbard was 6, he was honored with the status of “blood broth- er” by the Blackfeet, a rare honor for a white man. This has been disputed by several sources that have failed to find any evidence of this encounter. The Bu- reau of Indian Affairs penned a letter in 1979, which was cited by the Los Angeles Times during its expose on Hubbard and Scientology. The letter, written by the Superintendent of the BIA in Browning, states that the office did not have any re- cord of Hubbard’s “adoption” as a blood brother.
According to Hubbard, he made friends with a tribal medicine man known as Old Tom. According to the church, these early experiences had pro- found influences on Hubbard and in- spired his initial spiritual journey and eventual development of “Dianetics.”
After less than one year in Kalispell, the Hubbards uprooted once again and moved to Helena.
Young Ron spent several years in Helena, attending kindergarten and growing up in true Old West fashion – “its do-and-dare attitudes, its wry hu- mor, cowboy pranks and make-nothing of the worst and most dangerous,” Hub- bard later said in his pseudo autobiogra- phy.
He learned to ride horses and break broncos, according to the church. He also joined the Boy Scouts and spent considerable time at the movie theater where his father worked, sparking Hub- bard’s lifelong fascination with movies and movie stars.
Hubbard’s father eventually re-en- listed with the U.S. Navy as World War I began, and Hubbard spent the next few years living with his mother and aunts while his father served overseas. Hop- ing to be closer to her husband when he was on leave, Hubbard’s mother moved to San Diego with young Ron in 1921. Af- ter a year in San Diego, they moved again to Seattle.
By 1924, Hubbard had achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, building on the skills he first learned in Montana. As a teenager and young man, he would re- turn to Helena several times over the next few years to visit family and revis- it a place where he had fond memories growing up, illustrating the lasting con- nection between him and this corner of the state.
CONTINENTAL DIVIDES
DAINES BLASTED FOR VOTE ONFEDERALLANDTRANSFER AMENDMENT
Some conservation groups and out- door-related business are critical of U.S. Sen. Steve Daines for his vote on an amendment related to federal land transfers.
Critics say the amendment to a fed- eral budget bill is a first step to federal land transfer or sale.
But a spokeswoman for the Montana Republican says the amendment does not authorize any federal land transfers or sales.
Alee Lockman also says Daines has not altered his opposition to large-scale transfer or sale of federal lands.
The amendment was sponsored by Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski. It passed the Senate on March 26 51-49.
Montana’s other senator, Democrat Jon Tester, voted against it.
Tester tells the Independent Record that the threat of selling off public lands is real.
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