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

The Singing Bridge On U S 20


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I left Bend today and arrived in Ontario, Oregon this evening. It was a long day, as I didn’t leave my son and friends until after 11AM and didn’t arrive in Ontario until 9:30 local time. I took several alignment detours and stopped often, so what might normally be a 4 hour drive took more than ten. There is only one town in the 230 miles between Bend and Ontario with modern accommodations, so it was make it to Ontario, or sleep in the car.

 

This first post will provide an overview. Later posts and edits to this post will add photos and details.

If you don’t drive the wide open spaces of eastern Oregon or Nevada, you may not be prepared for the solitude. Some people hate it, but I crank up the CD, roll back the sunroof, and exalt in the splendor of the American road.

 

There are three alignments of US20 or its predecessor between Bend Oregon and Millican, which is 25 miles east of Bend. To appreciate each you need to recognize the Horse Ridge barrier. The earliest road skirted the ridge to the south and avoided the steep grade. It still exists and is entirely dirt.

 

Which brings up one significant difference between following the old alignments in the east or Midwest, and in the far west. Mobilene in his terrific recent post on the National Road is enjoying a brick alignment through small towns and quiet settings. I was on a rough, dusty, rocky, and sometimes overgrown pathway, with no habitation what so ever for 25 miles....or I would have been if I had stayed on the road for the full 25 miles to Millican. Mobiline was getting tired of brick after half a day. I got tired of rocks and dust after half an hour! So I took an escape back to pavement. I admit it. Dirt doesn’t hold the charm it once did, especially when the only variety was the size of the sagebrush.

 

I took about 10 miles total, in from both ends, and saw what I wanted to see. I can say with authority that the 1915-1920 road was .... right, you got it...dusty, rough, rocky, and slow. My 1919 Automobile Blue Book says that you can make the distance between Bend and Burns, (130 miles) IN TEN HOURS. Sounds about right, then or now if you stayed on the oldest highway.

 

The dirt road converges with the modern road at Millican. Actually, the old road remains south of Millican by ½ mile, but Millican moved to the new road when it was built. Smart play!

 

The middle aged alignment which replaced the dirt route did climb Horse Ridge in a series of switch backs and curves. It is drivable in part today in a Jeep. I did it for about a mile in a passenger car, but I don’t recommend it. It is brick red! When I was a young man, most Oregon Highways were red. Now all of them are the common black.

 

They were red because Oregon has an abundance of red volcanic cinder close by many roads. So when you mix asphalt with red cinders, you get the red roads I knew and loved. I talked with an Oregon Transportation Department person today who said that they don’t use it now, and haven’t for decades, because it held or absorbed oil.

 

The newer highway 20, which I recall as there by not later than the 1970’s, attacks Horse Ridge head on, and gains the summit through a the huge and almost predictable cut. As you approach the cut, you can look down to your right, and see the red cinder road tortuously climbing the grade in curves and switchbacks. Just past the cut on the left is a pull off where you can see the canyon that served as an outlet for the lake. Forty years ago there were Indian rock drawings easily visible along the walls.

 

Millican is now abandoned, and apparently has been for some time. Forty years ago it was a one man town!

 

I drove on to Brothers, which is alive and even has a school. The brothers combination general store, Post Office, gas station, restaurant and saloon is run by Jerrie and Dixie who bought it about 2 years ago. Dixie was a truck driver and Jerrie had a small farm in the Willamette Valley. Now they run the Brothers Stage Stop and keep their horse in the wide open behind the business.

 

This is high desert and was once the location of a land boom. At one time there were hundreds, of homesteads dotting this area. Today there are a few scatted ranches miles apart. The land was never suitable for raising a commercial crop, and the homesteader left, leaving behind their broken dreams and tar paper shacks.

 

The old 1915-1920 road is lost and forgotten for much of its length. It exists in some places where it may be used to reach a ranch or well, but for the most part it is unidentifiable and overgrown with sage brush. It is when it comes to a deserted town or village that it has some interest.

 

In later posts I will describe Harney and Drewsey, two hamlets on the old road, but now 2 miles north of the modern alignment. One is almost entirely gone, and the other is teetering. But the old road is still used.

 

East of Burns the county along US 20 starts to change. You still have sections of sage brush, but you pick up the Malheur River and follow it for miles thorough steep canyons with strange rock formations, and occasionally across lush farmland. East of Junturia you follow and old railroad bed, and above the railroad, which follows the river, is an old road. It goes for miles and has the characteristic loose rock retaining walls of an old stage road. Once I spotted two old road beds, one above the other. climbing a long grade above the river and abandoned railroad. I have some fine reference books that I hope will shed light on what I was seeing.

 

The Malheur River was a favorite with trappers and at one point I stopped beside a historic wayside sign that described Peter Skeen Ogden’s visits here in 1828. At another point I spotted a wonderful old steel span across the Malheur and pulled off the road, through a farm yard and across the wooden planks of the bridge. Through the sunroof I could hear the bridge singing as the cables and girders adjusted to the weight of the moving car. To think of a bridge as singing is probably very difficult to envision if you have never crossed an old steel truss bridge, and the sound is long forgotten today with our modern concrete structures.

 

There are many other memorable stops and events to describe, but it is approaching 9AM and unless I hit the road, I will have nothing to share. Today will be along the Old Oregon Trail Highway, also known as US30, between Ontario and points north.

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

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Yes, that's certainly a different kind of experience from what I get here in Indiana. I tried following old US 20 on Windows Live Local, and found it difficult as the roads aren't as well labeled as I'm used to. It sure looks like there's miles and miles of miles and miles out there. Sure would like to see red road. Looking forward to the photos. jim

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I left Bend today and arrived in Ontario, Oregon this evening. It was a long day, as I didn’t leave my son and friends until after 11AM and didn’t arrive in Ontario until 9:30 local time. I took several alignment detours and stopped often, so what might normally be a 4 hour drive took more than ten. There is only one town in the 230 miles between Bend and Ontario with modern accommodations, so it was make it to Ontario, or sleep in the car.

 

This first post will provide an overview. Later posts and edits to this post will add photos and details.

If you don’t drive the wide open spaces of eastern Oregon or Nevada, you may not be prepared for the solitude. Some people hate it, but I crank up the CD, roll back the sunroof, and exalt in the splendor of the American road.

 

There are three alignments of US20 or its predecessor between Bend Oregon and Millican, which is 25 miles east of Bend. To appreciate each you need to recognize the Horse Ridge barrier. The earliest road skirted the ridge to the south and avoided the steep grade. It still exists and is entirely dirt.

 

Which brings up one significant difference between following the old alignments in the east or Midwest, and in the far west. Mobilene in his terrific recent post on the National Road is enjoying a brick alignment through small towns and quiet settings. I was on a rough, dusty, rocky, and sometimes overgrown pathway, with no habitation what so ever for 25 miles....or I would have been if I had stayed on the road for the full 25 miles to Millican. Mobiline was getting tired of brick after half a day. I got tired of rocks and dust after half an hour! So I took an escape back to pavement. I admit it. Dirt doesn’t hold the charm it once did, especially when the only variety was the size of the sagebrush.

 

I took about 10 miles total, in from both ends, and saw what I wanted to see. I can say with authority that the 1915-1920 road was .... right, you got it...dusty, rough, rocky, and slow. My 1919 Automobile Blue Book says that you can make the distance between Bend and Burns, (130 miles) IN TEN HOURS. Sounds about right, then or now if you stayed on the oldest highway.

 

The dirt road converges with the modern road at Millican. Actually, the old road remains south of Millican by ½ mile, but Millican moved to the new road when it was built. Smart play!

 

The middle aged alignment which replaced the dirt route did climb Horse Ridge in a series of switch backs and curves. It is drivable in part today in a Jeep. I did it for about a mile in a passenger car, but I don’t recommend it. It is brick red! When I was a young man, most Oregon Highways were red. Now all of them are the common black.

 

They were red because Oregon has an abundance of red volcanic cinder close by many roads. So when you mix asphalt with red cinders, you get the red roads I knew and loved. I talked with an Oregon Transportation Department person today who said that they don’t use it now, and haven’t for decades, because it held or absorbed oil.

 

The newer highway 20, which I recall as there by not later than the 1970’s, attacks Horse Ridge head on, and gains the summit through a the huge and almost predictable cut. As you approach the cut, you can look down to your right, and see the red cinder road tortuously climbing the grade in curves and switchbacks. Just past the cut on the left is a pull off where you can see the canyon that served as an outlet for the lake. Forty years ago there were Indian rock drawings easily visible along the walls.

 

Millican is now abandoned, and apparently has been for some time. Forty years ago it was a one man town!

 

I drove on to Brothers, which is alive and even has a school. The brothers combination general store, Post Office, gas station, restaurant and saloon is run by Jerrie and Dixie who bought it about 2 years ago. Dixie was a truck driver and Jerrie had a small farm in the Willamette Valley. Now they run the Brothers Stage Stop and keep their horse in the wide open behind the business.

 

This is high desert and was once the location of a land boom. At one time there were hundreds, of homesteads dotting this area. Today there are a few scatted ranches miles apart. The land was never suitable for raising a commercial crop, and the homesteader left, leaving behind their broken dreams and tar paper shacks.

 

The old 1915-1920 road is lost and forgotten for much of its length. It exists in some places where it may be used to reach a ranch or well, but for the most part it is unidentifiable and overgrown with sage brush. It is when it comes to a deserted town or village that it has some interest.

 

In later posts I will describe Harney and Drewsey, two hamlets on the old road, but now 2 miles north of the modern alignment. One is almost entirely gone, and the other is teetering. But the old road is still used.

 

East of Burns the county along US 20 starts to change. You still have sections of sage brush, but you pick up the Malheur River and follow it for miles thorough steep canyons with strange rock formations, and occasionally across lush farmland. East of Junturia you follow and old railroad bed, and above the railroad, which follows the river, is an old road. It goes for miles and has the characteristic loose rock retaining walls of an old stage road. Once I spotted two old road beds, one above the other. climbing a long grade above the river and abandoned railroad. I have some fine reference books that I hope will shed light on what I was seeing.

 

The Malheur River was a favorite with trappers and at one point I stopped beside a historic wayside sign that described Peter Skeen Ogden’s visits here in 1828. At another point I spotted a wonderful old steel span across the Malheur and pulled off the road, through a farm yard and across the wooden planks of the bridge. Through the sunroof I could hear the bridge singing as the cables and girders adjusted to the weight of the moving car. To think of a bridge as singing is probably very difficult to envision if you have never crossed an old steel truss bridge, and the sound is long forgotten today with our modern concrete structures.

 

There are many other memorable stops and events to describe, but it is approaching 9AM and unless I hit the road, I will have nothing to share. Today will be along the Old Oregon Trail Highway, also known as US30, between Ontario and points north.

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

 

 

Great write-up. Tho I am an 'easterner' I know about those wide open spaces in the west. In 2001 I drove out to Miles City, MT, to link up with a buddy of mine for a trip to Seattle. I remember coming thru Baker, MT, and seeing a sign that said "Last gas for 89 miles" - it was not a come-on. I didn't find another gas station until I was nearly into Miles City.

In 2002 my daughter and I took a trip from Memphis to South Dakota. She's the type that lets her gas gauge reach nearly empty. I told her, when we got out into South Dakota, when the gauge hit 1/2, she'd better fill it up at the first gas station we found - because if she didn't SHE was going to be the one walking for gas!!! LOL

And something else we saw on that trip you don't see often in the east; we left Valentine, NE, at around 5am. Pitch black on old U S 83 as we headed south for North Platte - all of a sudden we see these little pin points of light up ahead. I'm yelling STOP STOP STOP - and she's slowing down. There were 8 or 10 cows trucking north in the south bound lane!!!!

Safe Traveling - looking fwd to more of your reports.

 

Hudsonly,

Alex Burr

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Another thought about this. How many places across the country proved unsuitable for crops that people tried to live on? A large portion of Indiana was cleared and settled in the early 1800s, only to find that the rocky soil produced insufficient crops. The homesteaders left, trees were replanted, and it's all now the Hoosier National Forest. A college chum who's into orienteering says you can still find the foundations of many of the homes out there in the woods. jim

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I got home last night and I have tons of stories to tell. Ahh, the joy of the two laners.

 

Bo, the Malmute Wonder Dog greeted me with wagging tale and barks of happiness. When I arrived home Sheila, Rose of the Road was out shopping. When she got home I asked her why she didn’t greet me like Bo did. She gave me a hug and a peck on the lips, and told me to unload the groceries.

 

Mobilene...you could spend months following the old alignments on the high desert. I know of a fellow who spent his entire retirement following the old wagon roads alone, and didn’t live long enough to tackle the auto roads.

 

I am not sure whether it represents an embarrassment of riches, or a collection of minutia. You could spend years to figure out the route(s) and you would have “discovered” the one out of a hundred tracks.

 

There is one mystery left unsolved. And it is a small jewel. My 1915 and 1919 Automobile Blue Books break the trip between Bend and Burns into two sections, one between Bend and Brookings, and the other between Brookings and Burns. There was a hotel at Brookings, and supplies. It was even on the route map.

 

Brookings has disappeared without a trace! No one knows it existed. A helpful highway supervisor and I tried to discern where it might have been, but the road she thought it might be on, didn’t exist, or probably more accurately had returned to sagebrush. None the less, I think I may have a hin, and now I will launch a satellite search for the mystery town of Brookings.

 

Alex...great story! And typical of the west. Most people think of Oregon as green and lush, but the eastern 2/3 gets very little rain. It is absolutely beautiful in many areas, as I hope to describe in subsequent posts. But green and lush, it ain’t! Big and wide open it is!

 

BTW, Miles City is a place I want to go...on the old Yellowstone Trail. Any recollections?

 

I was driving a rented Lincoln Town Car with 6700 miles on the odometer, which I got because they didn’t have the economy car I reserved! So for the cost of the smallest car they have, I got the Lincoln for the week. I watched the gas gauge pretty carefully because the distance between stations is often more than 60 miles. If you detour to the old alignment you can easily add 25 miles so, as you say, it is smart to keep at least a half tank.

 

And something that can really fool you is the fact that the outposts that sell gas and get their names on the road signs, come and go. Millican, for example, is on the list of towns on the road signs, but there isn’t a living soul there, let along gasoline. And when you do find a little station, general store, cafe, and post office combination that does have a pump, be prepared to pay the price! Gasoline in Bend was going at right around $3.00 but at Brothers it was $3.87. No quarrel. $3.87 is better than a long walk, and Dixie and Jerrie who run the place know you are only going to buy enough gasoline to get to Burns. It is worth the price just to have them there.

 

After I look over the posts I've missed, I am going to start the write up. I can’t match some of the superior stuff you folks have been posting, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t some fun stuff to share.

 

With that in mind, let’s keep the Show on the Road!

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There is one mystery left unsolved. And it is a small jewel. My 1915 and 1919 Automobile Blue Books break the trip between Bend and Burns into two sections, one between Bend and Brookings, and the other between Brookings and Burns. There was a hotel at Brookings, and supplies. It was even on the route map.

 

Brookings has disappeared without a trace! No one knows it existed. A helpful highway supervisor and I tried to discern where it might have been, but the road she thought it might be on, didn’t exist, or probably more accurately had returned to sagebrush. None the less, I think I may have a hin, and now I will launch a satellite search for the mystery town of Brookings.

 

That is fascinating! I can understand how a town would disappear if it were last heard of 200 years ago, but not if it existed during a time when it was so well recorded, at least by the auto trail guides! And there's a chance that there are people still alive who remember it.

 

Are your sources good enough to help you triangulate Brookings' location?

 

jim

 

PS: My US 31 trip was scuttled for the weekend when my friend got called away to Portland on business. We'll reschedule it.

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