Jasper County Democrat, Volume 20, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 August 1917 — DROVE LORD CAR TO SEATTLE [ARTICLE]

DROVE LORD CAR TO SEATTLE

Miss Dena Hanson Writes of Enjoyable Western Trip. Mies Dena Hanson of Marinette, Wisconsin, who has taught school in Jasper county for the past five years, four years in Newton township and last year at Parr, recently reached Seattle, 'Washington, concluding a trip there from this city in a Ford car. Miss Hanson left here about the middle of April and drove through to her 'home at Marinette. Here ehe was joined by her mother, who is 73 years old, and an invalid brother, and the party set out for the Pacific coast. They went direct to St. Paul. Minnesota, where thev connected with the Red and White trail. The trip was adventurous as well as interesting and would Lave caused many a less resolute person than Miss Hanson to abandon same under similar circumstances, but the trip was continued except through one portion of the mountains where travel via auto wras impossible. The Democrat is privileged' to print an account of the trip as written by Miss Hanson to a friend in this county. The entire trip consumed just one month, counting five or six days lost on J account of rains, ete., and they did no traveling whatever after sunset. Concerning the trip and parts nf the country visited. Miss Hansen wrote as follows: After getting to St. Paul there is the Red and White trail to follow. The posts along sides of the road

are marked with a red band bounded by :»o white hands, one above, and one below the red. The roads through Minnesota and North Dakota were excellent except in The bad lands of North Dakota, and there they were fair. The Red traiOakes you to Miles City, Montana There you hit the Yellow trail. Between Miles City and Forsyth, Montana, the roads are rather rocky, with steep grades and narrow roads right on the edge of cliffs. They look rather dangerous but we got through alright. These roads are so narrow that if you meet anyone, one of yon has to back up until you find a suitable place to pass, and backing isn't always so easy around a steep curve. I think you will find the roads through Montana the rest of the way excellent unless it becomes rainy. When we came through Billings it had beeh raining .or snowing for two or three months and the roads were impassable. We had to wait four or five days for the rain to quit. The" roads there are made of a soil called “Gumbo'* and are very bad, slippery and sticky when wet. but they say that in July or August they become hard and smooth as concrete pavement. After getting through Missoula follow —the — Sunset —highway' which" takes you all the way to Seattle. This highway is excellent except in Blewett pass and sometimes in Snoqualmie pass in the Cascade mountains in Washington. Blewett pass is similar to the country between Miles City and Forsyth, only it has beeh graded better, but there is a great deal of “cliff” work and ’ narrow roads. Snoqualmie pass was impassable until the first of July. When we arrived near it there was eight feet of snow in the pass and we had to ship oar Ford a distance of fortyseven miles. This was about June ,21. It cost $13.20 to ship the Ford and $1.40 ea h for the. passengers. They say that now the road is very good through Snoqual-, mie. We carried a tent strapped to the side of the "Ford” but it was bulky and inconvenient through the mountains so we shipped it from Billings. Most of the time we stopped with farmers on the way out. We asked if we might sleep in their hay if they had hay barns, as we carried comforters, blankets and pillows with us. We slept in beds, sanitary cots, hay barns, oats bins, bunk houses, tents, etc. We certainly got a little taste of what a tramp’s life is like. The further West you go the more hospitable the people are. Most everybody treated us like some of their nearest relatives come to visit them. Seattle is lively now. There is so much ship building. The men who work there make from $3:50 to SIO.OO per day (8 hour day) and when they work overtime they get double pay. There is all kinds of

work around those ship yards, too. I think 1 will look for a job there pretty soon. Just now there is a street car strike on and the “jitneys” and “free "buses” are taking care of all the transportation.