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Pinedale Roads

Page history last edited by Judi Myers 11 years, 7 months ago

Pinedale Roads

In the spring of 1905 the roads around Pinedale were described as “almost impassable during the irrigation season.  The mail carrier rides a horse that can swim when necessary & travel in deep mud most of the time.  One road has been named ‘Boat Alley’”.  Roads have always been a main link with the outside world in a county with no railroads & limited air traffic.  From horse hooves to wagon ruts to automobiles, these roads have held major importance and an ample supply of tribulations.

 

Pinedale saw its first car in 1907 – a $1400, 27 horsepower, 1900 pound Gale.  It was able to ford 18 inches of water.  Within a few years, many residents had purchased autos and the newspaper offered a “Behind the Wheel” column with reports like “Mr. Smith drove Mrs. Smith to town on Tuesday.”  The column listed the county’s “Knights of the Wheel” – men who could handle autos.  Driving was a summer activity in the upper country, so when Mr. Bourm decided to leave Pinedale in February, he transported his auto 15 miles south with a team & wagon – it took 8 hours – and drove from there.  By 1914 a teenager broke all records by making a 200 mile round trip to Rock Springs in 13 hours 30 minutes with stops for breakfast, lunch & visiting.

 

The old cars frequently had problems and Gus’s Model-T was no exception.  One time his steering wheel came completely off & his passenger yelled, “Watch where you’re going!”  Gus just handed his friend the damaged apparatus & said, “Here, you drive!”

 

One time roads were described as  “a disgrace to a civilized community” as ranchers allowed irrigation water to run onto the ‘highway’ until every road into town was flooded.  Another problem was fences.  When Sublette became a county in 1921 the ‘Sunset Route to Yellowstone Park’ contained 2 gates in a distance of 3 miles on the west side of town.  During tourist season, some 50 or more cars per day were compelled to stop to open & close gates.

 

Before 1921 complaints of poor roads were made to unsympathetic county commissioners who lived 150 miles & a mountain range away.  Local citizens organized a Good Roads Committee to sponsor ‘Missionary Road Work Days’.  On one of these work days volunteers hauled & dumped 300 loads of gravel on a marshy section of road and hand-picked rocks from the rough Fremont Lake road.  When citizens campaigned to become Sublette County, their slogan was, “We must pull the country west of the Wind River Mountains out of the rut!  Roads!  Roads!  Roads!” 

 

One of the most colorful descriptions of a 1917 road reported that it offered passengers all the thrills of “shooting the chutes, bumping the bumps and freeze-out.  But, cheer up friends,  spring is coming - so is Christmas”.  Dirt 2-tracks connecting towns and volunteer repair crews are now history, but recalling the early problems helps put a perspective on the roads of today for they are still our main link with the outside world.

                                                                                                                        Judi Myers 2012

 

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