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                                   EXHIBIT 99

                    GLACIER BANCORP, INC. AND MOUNTAIN WEST BANK TO MERGE

KALISPELL, MONTANA - Glacier Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ "GBCI") today announced the
signing of a definitive agreement whereby Mountain West Bank, Coeur d'Alene,
Idaho, will become a separate subsidiary of Glacier. Mountain West is a
commercial bank with approximately $87 million in assets, based in Coeur
d'Alene, with offices in Hayden Lake, Post Falls and Boise, Idaho. Glacier is a
bank holding company based in Kalispell, Montana, with approximately $850
million in assets and 24 offices in 16 Montana communities.

The combination of Glacier and Mountain West will create a banking company with
approximately $935 million in assets, $650 million in loans, and $87 million in
shareholders' equity. Following the combination, Mountain West, consistent with
the practice established by Glacier's other banking subsidiaries, will retain
its autonomy and local decision making authority. Both companies believe that
this will allow Mountain West to continue being responsive to the needs of the
Idaho communities it serves. Mountain West will continue to operate under its
current name with all directors, existing management and employees retained.

"I have known Jon Hippler for a long time," said Mick Blodnick, Glacier's
President and CEO, "and admire the excellent reputation and seasoned management
team he has built, which has allowed the bank to grow to over $87 million in
assets in only five years of operation. This is Glacier's first acquisition
outside the state of Montana and gives the company a presence in two of the
fastest growing markets in the state of Idaho. Coeur d'Alene, and Kootenai
County, where Mountain West currently has its largest presence, comprise one of
the fastest growing areas in the whole country. Kootenai County has increased
almost 45% in population since 1990 to about 100,000 people and is projected to
grow to 160,000 by 2010. In addition, the Boise area, where Mountain West opened
an office in 1998, is a very vibrant market and offers great potential to
Mountain West and the Glacier Banking Group."

Jon Hippler, President and CEO of Mountain West, stated that "We believe this
merger makes a lot of sense for shareholders, customers and employees of
Mountain West. The enhanced financial and managerial resources that Glacier
provides will allow us to more quickly implement our growth strategy,
particularly in the rapidly growing Boise market. Our shareholders will receive
enhanced liquidity, an immediate premium, regular cash dividends and be part of
a more diversified growing company with a superior track record. Our employees
will continue to do what they do best, with the support and depth of a larger
community focused banking company."

Charles Nipp, Chairman of the Board of Mountain West, said that "the Board was
very focused on assuring that going forward Mountain West remain a separate
community bank able to make local decisions and deliver the responsive service
for which it has come to be known. We are convinced, by reviewing how Glacier
Bancorp interacts with its other subsidiary banks, that this indeed is the way
they conduct business."



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                            TERMS OF THE COMBINATION

Under the terms of the merger agreement, Mountain West shareholders will receive
1.18 shares of Glacier common stock for each Mountain West share held.
Outstanding Mountain West employee stock options will be converted at the same
exchange ratio into the right to receive Glacier common stock. The transaction,
which will be accounted for as a pooling of interests, is scheduled to close
next January. The deal is expected to be neutral to Glacier's earnings in 2000,
the year of completion of the transaction, without relying on any efficiencies
which may be realized from the combination. It is anticipated that the
transaction will be accretive to Glacier's earnings in subsequent years. After
the transaction, which is subject to the approval of Mountain West's
shareholders and regulatory authorities, Glacier will have a market
capitalization in excess of $200 million, with over 10 million shares
outstanding.

                              FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE

Glacier Bancorp is one of only a handful of financial institutions nationwide to
receive an A+ rating from Standard & Poor's rating service. Since going public
in 1984, Glacier's shareholders have enjoyed a compound annual return exceeding
25%. As of June 30, 1999 and including the recent acquisition of Big Sky Western
Bank, Glacier had total assets of $819 million, with $553 million in loans and
$79 million in shareholders' equity.

Mountain West Bank has produced strong and consistent growth over the past
several years. For the last three fiscal years ending March 31, 1999, the Bank
saw assets, loans, and deposits increase at compound annual rates of 35%, 31%
and 37%, respectively. At August 31, 1999, Mountain West had total assets of
$87.5 million, with over $53.7 million in loans and about $6.4 million in
shareholder equity.

Glacier previously announced a definitive agreement to acquire two branches in
Butte, Montana from Washington Mutual Bank. That deal is expected to close in
October of 1999 and will add approximately $80 million in deposits. Upon
completion of the branch acquisition and the Mountain West deal, Glacier is
expected to have approximately $950 million in total assets.

The discussion above with regards to the Glacier/Mountain West merger includes
certain "forward looking statements" concerning the future operations of the
companies. Glacier desires to take advantage of the "safe harbor" provisions of
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This statement is for the
express purpose of availing Glacier of the protections of such safe harbor with
respect to all "forward looking statements." Management's ability to predict
results of the effect of future plans is inherently uncertain, and is subject to
factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected.
Factors that could affect the actual results include the challenges inherent in
combining separate corporations in transactions such as the proposed merger and
unanticipated costs associated with the merger and the subsequent integration of
Mountain West as a subsidiary of Glacier.