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Celebrating our two-lane highways of yesteryear…And the joys of driving them today!

National Parks Highway - Day 2


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Another greaaaaat day on the American Road….this time it’s the National Parks Highway scouting tour, second day out. I spent last night at the Waterville Hotel, my 1907 Story Book stop.

 

ARHotelRoom.jpg

 

ARHotelHall.jpg

 

Denny mentioned how neat it was to be sitting on a hotel porch across from an active park…true, but I left my horseshoes at home. But Denny, what about being across the street from a 1920’s or earlier garage…pretty neat too.

 

Sitting on the Hotel porch last night made me feel like I was traveling in 1920. I so seldom see real live kids out playing in their front yards or on the streets and sidewalks anymore….they all seem to be inside playing games on their machines….or maybe they are at day care centers....... but in Waterville they are out and about.

 

The morning sun shown brightly through the lace curtains on my window about 5:45AM…..maybe I should have pulled the blinds last night! I had selected a room with bath…a claw foot tub, but not a shower, so I splashed around a little before I shaved. Gees, I had forgotten how good it feels to lay back in a tub of warm water. Highly recommended for the old bones!

 

I was out the door by 6:45AM and followed more of the “16 miles straight” in the 1915-16 Automobile Blue Book. It was a nice gravel road, and before I realized it I was doing 60 mph….not a really good idea in farm county where there can be a slow moving rig over the next blind hill, and gravel can be tricky if you get a little out of line at that speed…so I slowed down a lot.

 

I realized about 10 miles out if Waterville that I had forgotten to go back and get properly exposed photos of Pine Canyon. Darn it!! I’ll post a badly over exposed one here and hope to get better shots on the way back home. This is taken looking west, standing on top the berm that blocks access from the east.

 

ARPineCanyonOE.jpg

 

Jim, in reply to your question, what I meant to express was that perhaps a mile in the middle of the old Pine Canyon road was inaccessible by car because the county had built up a dirt barrier across it in two places. That’s why I need an ATV or scooter.

 

ARBerms.jpg

 

I drove to the top of the Moses Coulee on the west. The old alignment (green line) down starts at about B. Eric and I have followed independently. It is paved, but the weeds are growing in the road and encroaching from the sides. I am now 85% confident it (green line) is not the 1916 alignment down the grade from the west (until it gets to the bottom). There is another alignment faintly visible further east (white line with dots), which matches better the 1918 Army topo, and I believe it is the earlier alignment. The paved alignment has several cuts that were not likely in 1916.

 

ARSpencerHotel.jpg

 

Coming down the paved old alignment (green) I could see the faint track of a road in the draw to my left (east). It is also visible on Google Earth. It would have been the obvious route to take if you didn’t have a heavy road grading capability. It would have to cross a dry creek in the draw, but that would be a matter of digging a few dugways to make it up down one bank of the creek and up the other bank a couple of times.

 

On the way down I stopped at the box like crib Eric had seen. He asked us about its purpose. I don’t recall my exact guess, but I think one of my thoughts was wheat storage, and I think that is the case.

 

ARBox.jpg

 

One thing is positive, it was used to store something that was granular and easily poured. I am going to say wheat, but it conceivably could have been gravel. I have seen them elsewhere in wheat country, and once adjacent to a farm building, so I say wheat.

 

It is evident that wagons or trucks drove to the top side, and dumped their loads into the box. It might well have been when wheat was harvested by horse teams and the wagons dumped the wheat in the top before returning to follow the harvester again.

 

Then either wagons or trucks backed up under the box, between the uprights and loaded up for subsequent transport. I discovered chutes that opened with a handle in each bay. I opened one, but the box above was empty….thankfully or I would have had a face full of something. Mystery solved.

 

The photo shows on of the metal chutes. The handle hanging down in the foreground was pulled to swing the cover off the end of the chute and allow the contents to empty.

 

ARChute.jpg

 

I looked and looked for Spencer and the hotel. Nothing, nada.

 

The distance from Point A to the hotel, according to the 1915-16 ABB is 3.8 miles which is at point C, using the older (white) grade. But I don’t know. There is one spot visible on Google Earth (D) that looks human made, but I didn’t try to walk to it.

 

I tried to spot a water source (green patch) which is often a give away, or a “foreign” plant, (e.g Rose bush, apple tree). Nothing. I scanned the area with binoculars…..maybe I saw a little green where I think the Hotel was, but nothing definitive. So mystery unsolved….except for another mystery.

 

I did discover yesterday in Moses Coulee a foundation (F) and large strange metal contraption in a concrete pit (E). In Google Earth F looks like a building. When I saw it in GE days ago, I took it to be a farm storage building, and an examination on the ground suggests a machinery repair building, but why there? And where did the building go? It is just an old foundation now. There is no crop nearby, unless you count sagebrush and sand.

 

The biggest clue I could find was what appears to be a gravel pit neraby. Perhaps that was worked for some time and grading and related equipment was stored and repaired in the building whose foundation I located. The artifacts were bolts, gaskets, and nuts, not what you would find under a hotel.

 

I drove on out of the Coulee on US2, and watching an old alignment off on my left, noticed a large culvert. I turned back the old alignment and followed it to a gate, but elected not to open it and pass through. Perhaps the culvert was dated which would help identify when this alignment was built. (Remember, this is a first scouting, not an effort to answer every question!).

 

I drove north to intersect the old alignment (see map below). The photo below shows the road beyond the locked gate. This alignment would have take you to the head of Sulpher Springs Gulch, and is probably the oldest alignment from the east going west into the Moses Coulee. It offered a great look backward in time. Driving these graveled roads you might come to believe you were playing pioneer motorist. But the reality is the graveled roads are practically highways, with smoothly graded broad roadbeds and excellent drainage. Not so the old roads, even the greatly improved ones.

 

ARLockedGate.jpg

 

ARBeyondLockedGate.jpg

 

ARLockedGateMap.jpg

 

 

I drove on to Coulee City where I met “Mrs. Coulee City,” but that deserves a separate post.

 

Dave

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

 

 

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Dave!

 

Looks like some questions are answered and looks like I was wrong. That's great!

 

I saw the little man-made patch (D) on Google Earth too, but didn't know what to make of it since it didn't match mileage for anything.

 

Did you see the abandoned rode right next to the latest road on the west side of the coulee? I'm a bit confused as to why it's there.

 

On your bottom map (for the eastern side of the coulee), could you see how the road connected to the roads in the bottom of the coulee? It doesn't seem like there's an easy way for it to do that. Such a shame about the gate. Looks like there are phone numbers on the sign? Might be worth it.

 

The hotel/post office thing is completely confusing. There don't seem to be any turn anywhere. Would old county maps help, perhaps? Maybe the county's courthouse should be paid a visit.

 

Could the machinery building (if that's what it was) be related to the railroad? Or perhaps to the road crews? I'm not sure where the railroad went through up there, but I seem to remember the post office mostly serving the railroad.

 

http://sdp45.blogspot.com/2008/02/railroad...waterville.html

http://sdp45.blogspot.com/2008/02/little-p...st-offices.html

 

There's also a bit about irrigation here:

http://www.archive.org/stream/irrigatedlan...tagoog_djvu.txt

(search for "Moses coulee")

 

It doesn't really say where in the coulee the irrigation was, but there may have been crops, etc.

 

This could, of course, all be happening far north or far south of the road.

 

Again, very jealous.

 

-Eric

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Dave!

 

Looks like some questions are answered and looks like I was wrong. That's great!

 

I saw the little man-made patch (D) on Google Earth too, but didn't know what to make of it since it didn't match mileage for anything.

 

Did you see the abandoned rode right next to the latest road on the west side of the coulee? I'm a bit confused as to why it's there.

 

On your bottom map (for the eastern side of the coulee), could you see how the road connected to the roads in the bottom of the coulee? It doesn't seem like there's an easy way for it to do that. Such a shame about the gate. Looks like there are phone numbers on the sign? Might be worth it.

 

The hotel/post office thing is completely confusing. There don't seem to be any turn anywhere. Would old county maps help, perhaps? Maybe the county's courthouse should be paid a visit.

 

Could the machinery building (if that's what it was) be related to the railroad? Or perhaps to the road crews? I'm not sure where the railroad went through up there, but I seem to remember the post office mostly serving the railroad.

 

http://sdp45.blogspot.com/2008/02/railroad...waterville.html

http://sdp45.blogspot.com/2008/02/little-p...st-offices.html

 

There's also a bit about irrigation here:

http://www.archive.org/stream/irrigatedlan...tagoog_djvu.txt

(search for "Moses coulee")

 

It doesn't really say where in the coulee the irrigation was, but there may have been crops, etc.

 

This could, of course, all be happening far north or far south of the road.

 

Again, very jealous.

 

-Eric

 

 

Eric,

 

I’m back at the “home place.” The trip got abbreviated for a family emergency, but I still have tons of interesting stuff I discovered on the “scout.” I’ll get to that in other posts but first let me address your points.

 

First, I doubt that you are wrong! Are you referring to the “other” alignment? If so, I am just as likely to be wrong, and some evidence I turned up in Spokane makes me think so.

 

But let me be the “old guy” a second on the subject of being wrong. I used to do a management staff “lecture” I called “Dare to be Wrong!” In a nutshell I told my folks, when you admit you were wrong, you immediately end the argument, and gain the respect of your subordinates. So when you are wrong, be the first to say so.

 

I went on to say that the poor manager is the one who believes he / she has to be right all the time in order to maintain status. It has the opposite effect.

 

So now we can all compete to be wrong!!! :lol::rolleyes:

 

I am certain there was a road along the side hill, and down into the draw. It is clear when you are standing there. I followed it (visually) about half way down the draw. I’m a lot less certain that it followed the draw all the way to its base. My primary support is the 1918 Army topo. There was no evidence on the ground at the base of the draw.

 

Even if a road went down the draw (I am still inclined to believe one did), that doesn’t prove it was the 1916 version. So we can compete for who may be wrong. Like the Hotel, it is still unsolved.

 

I turned up evidence against my view of 1915 road building capabilities among the Frank Guilbert photos in Spokane. I saw some cuts in the photos that were not unlike those along the paved old alignment.

 

In any event, the only significance is in measuring the distance to Spencer. And incidentally, Spencer is listed on the 1935 Yellowstone Trail map, so it was still around that late. Do you suppose it (the site) is under modern US2?

 

Next point….do you men the road on the east (not west) side next to the modern road? That turns out to be a large drainage ditch.

 

I’ll have to study the railroad thing more. I didn’t find mention of Spencer, but if it was on the railroad line, that would help locate it.

 

Dave

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

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Dave,

 

I'm really sorry to hear about your family emergency. Hopefully everything works out.

 

When we first started talking about a possible first alignment, I thought you were talking about one farther to the north (by a few miles). I didn't think that was possible. But you were talking about an alignment much closer to the later road, which I didn't even consider.

 

In cases like this, I guess I don't care much if I'm wrong, I just want to know. :)

 

That's great about the road-making abilities. It makes sense, they were making huge cuts for railroads long before they were doing it for roads. The technology was there, but cars could take a crazy grade, where trains couldn't.

 

Nope, I meant the *west* side. You can see it here:

http://www.littleblackstar.com/albums/2009...s/P1040776.html

and here:

http://www.littleblackstar.com/albums/2009...s/P1040777.html

 

It is *before* the grain hopper (or whatever it was).

 

 

If Spencer was on the 1935 alignment (the post office was long gone by then), wouldn't it be mentioned in a later ABB? My guess is that the area was still named, but everything was gone. You'll still find Homer and Bagdad, California on maps, but there's nothing there anymore.

 

I think we really need to (and can) figure this out.

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Also, here's something that I just thought a bit about.

 

We've been trying to figure out how to go east from Sulphur Springs RD to 1 RD to the west. The closest "road" is to the north west and it marked on Google till it seems to dead end. From that dead end, there seems to be no possibility of a road.

 

However, if you note where the gate is (which seems to be on 1 RD just east of H RD) and instead, head north from US 2 on H RD, you might be able to bypass it.

 

Here, take a look:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source...mp;t=h&z=15

 

If you go north on H and turn left on 1 and, instead of curving right with the road, look to your left. There seems to be an old road there. Could just be a path or a farm road, but it could be something. It follows the little valley that seems to go right to Sulphur Springs RD.

 

Might this be the old alignment into Moses Coulee from the east?

 

-Eric

 

*It looks like Roads H and 1 have been recently changed. The satellite view of GoogleMaps doesn't match the mapping. But you should be able to understand what I'm saying. The "A" is where you'd make the left that isn't marked on the map.

 

**I looked at it again, I'm pretty convinced that this was an older alignment. I can't quite see where it connects to Sulphur Springs Road, but I see traces of it where it makes no real sense for a road to otherwise be. I marked my speculations in red. I believe it crossed the stream twice.

 

ARLockedGateMapericremix.jpg

Edited by sit properly
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