John Blackshoe sends Serendipity History: Road trip! What we take for granted, was once nearly impossible, or mostly impassible.

 

                                        Crossing Wyoming 1919                                                                                                                                  Source          

Hither, thither and yon were along the route of a recent trip, which unfortunately kept me from providing any scribbles for Sarge’s desperate needs. 

It was almost all on our amazing Interstate highway system.  Departing when I-80 across Wyoming had been closed for three days.  “How do they do that?” some flatland easterners might ask. 

Simple.  They simply close the gates and divert all traffic off the highway into the nearest town, and the road is closed until the weather improves.  Even when it takes several days.   Remember, out west, exits may be 20-50 miles apart.   Heck, you can go 75 miles on a “major” two lane road in Wyoming without a traffic light or stop sign, let alone gas station or fast food joint, and barely a ranch or three.   There are not really any “side roads” to get around if the interstate is closed, and it would be foolhardy to suicidal to venture off into the wilderness in a blizzard during 20-30 knot winds and temps rising only into the teens.   So, when the big road closes, commerce and other traffic stops until conditions improve.

But, weather reports looked safe, and I-80 was opened to traffic at our scheduled departure time.   “Traffic” being every truck stuck west of the Rockies for the last three days, and eager to get out on a still somewhat snowy road, along with all us amateur four wheelers who spice up the trucker’s life with our unprofessional antics.   Not a fun 500 mile day behind the wheel for anyone.

Despite a wretchedly slow first day, later days had steadily improving weather, actually pretty nice, with lots of miles, and stops for shopping,  rest stops, and occasional visits with friends along our route.   Business was done, more friends celebrated with, and finally we headed home.  More miles, more days, a bit more business, some cargo to be crammed into our vehicle. 

As Willie says “Back on the Road Again.”  A great song, despite the self medicating singer, and at least he’s not a creepy clown.

Approaching Wyoming from the east this time, we found it once again shut down for weather when we were still in the land of cornhuskers.   Drove past Sean’s place, waved, but no sign of man nor beast on what I thought was his land, but to be honest, I have never been exactly sure which parcels are his.   Everywhere else they were dropping calves in abundance, so plan on burgers and steak in a year or two if the militant vegans don’t become more revolting.

Weather moderated, Wyoming relented and opened the land of the kickin’ horse to traffic.   Westward across Wyoming, we saw the largest city, Cheyenne, population 64,000, and other also the 4^th, 5^th, 7^th, 8^th and 12^th largest cities in the state, with populations dropping from 31,000 down to only 8,000, cows and coyotes not included.   Wyoming is still almost frontier territory, inhabited by hardy, hard working folks, not very tolerant of fools who might think they are too impatient or important to wait when roads are closed.  Got home safely, with almost 5K more miles on the odometer. 

Anyway, that was a lot of Interstate miles, mostly familiar to us.  

Building on the Past

Much of our route followed that of the U.S. Army “Transcontinental Motor Convoy” which set out from Washington on July 7, 1919 to cross the country along whatever roads existed.   Twenty eight year old Lieutenant Colonel Dwight Eisenhower, was in charge, and some 62 days and 3,251 miles later they arrived in San Francisco on September 7^th, 1919.   His convoy consisted of 81 vehicles, with 24 officers and 258 enlisted men.   Eisenhower later admired the German autobahn for its military usefulness, and the Highway Act of 1956 started work on the American counterpart, the Interstate and Defense Highway System.

The conditions in 1919 were mostly dirt tracks, a few roads with some improvements, but paving was scarce except in the densely settled eastern states, and surprisingly in California.  Breakdowns were frequent, but the troops persevered and proceeded mile after mile.  Along the way they were cheered, feted, fed and followed by the locals since this was about as exciting as life got in the post WW1 era, especially in rural America.  And, most of America was very rural indeed in those days.

Army Signal Corps film crews were part of the convoy and captured a lot of amazing footage of the expedition.   Here is a nice highlight reel only 2:16 minutes long, courtesy of the National Archives, but the three longer reels down below are well worth the time as well.

Detailed records were kept, and:

“[Eisenhower]…discovered that the nation’s roads, especially those west of Nebraska, were in rough condition. The soldiers faced mechanical breakdowns, quicksand, and in Utah and Nevada, rationed food and water. They traveled more than 10 hours daily at an average speed of about 5 miles per hour. On some days, they covered as little as three miles. . . .
In the Rockies of Wyoming and Utah and across Nevada, they went where few automobiles had gone before,”
The convoy log of the journey between Kimball and Cheyenne noted “The effect of altitudes exceeding 6000’ very noticeable in connection with the starting and operation of motors.” 

I am sure they would have waved to Sean’s granddad, too.

Wyoming has a nice write up on the convoy, since this post focuses on travel in that state:
https://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/eisenhowers-1919-road-trip-and-interstate-highway-system

Indeed, the U.S. Department of Transportation even has Eisenhower’s VERY interesting final summary report (only 2-3 pages long) posted at:
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/convoy.cfm

For fellow history enthusiasts, the Signal Corps film crew’s full footage is available in three reels about 8 or 9 minutes each.  Silent- no talkies yet, so crank Willy up while you watch these public domain flicks from the National Archives:

Reel 1, Sec. of War Baker and Rep. Julius Kahn dedicate the Zero Milestone In Washington, D.C. Trucks leave Camp Meigs, Md.; cross the Juniata River at Chambersburg, Pa.; climb the Blue Ridge Mts.; pass through East Palestine, Ohio; and traverse the Lincoln Highway in Ill. and Ind. An overturned truck is righted near Fulton, Ill. The Mississippi is crossed at Clinton, Iowa. Trucks are pulled from mud in Nebraska.
https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/mopix/111/h/111-h-1189-r1_5Mbs.mp4

Reel 2, trucks are winched from quicksand near North Platte, Neb. The Continental Divide Is crossed In Wyoming. Trucks pass through alkali dust in Wyo. A truck breaks through a wooden bridge and is extricated. The convoy departs from Fort Bridger, Wyo., and halts for a meal in Utah. Sagebrush is chopped and used to fill wheel ruts in the alkali road bed.
https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/mopix/111/h/111-h-1189-r2_5Mbs.mp4

Reel 3, the Great Salt Lake Desert is entered at Granite Point, Utah. A meal is prepared in the trailmobile kitchen. Trucks are pulled through wet sand in Nevada, climb the Sierra Nevadas, stop in Kybury, Calif., for dinner, parade through Sacramento, and ride from Oakland to San Francisco on ferries. Mayor Rolph greets Army officials.
https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/mopix/111/h/111-h-1189-r3_5Mbs.mp4

Why are road locations chosen?

Interstates usually follow old rail or canal lines.   Those mostly followed wagon tracks used by pioneers entering the wilderness, which lurked not far from the coastal settlements of the 1700s.   Those wagon trails quite often followed the paths used by fur traders and trappers who first explored the North American continent*, driven by economic motives, and a bit of coddiwomple since the 1500s.
* (Hat tip to Native Americans who already knew a lot of trails from their own migrations and hunting.)

Thus, the travel routes, as well as much of the cultural, economic and political history of our continent (not just country) were actually shaped by the relatively small number of men engaged in the fur trade long before areas were settled.   Eric Jay Dolin’s “Fur Fortune and Empire: The Epic History of the Fur Trade in America” is most enjoyable and enlightening.  It is a great audio book as well, which you can listen to for several days as you motor along trails once trod by those fur traders.  Tons of copies on ABEbooks for under $10.00, so treat yourself to a dead tree version.

So, as we travel around our great country, think about history and how we got to where we are.   And, thank the truckers who bring us all the stuff we need or want. 

So, as westerners say: