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Hy J. 0. MORRIS Did I hear someone say that our roads are not good? I won der how many of us have any definite idea as to what we had in the way of roads fourteen years ago? We “cuss” the road between here and Aztec, but just try to recall it as of say 1914—the winding trail, with only an occasional place wide enough for two vehicles to pass—the feeling you had when turning one of the dozens of sharp curves as fast as fifteen miles an hours, and wondering if you would run into someone “head-on.” Take the road between here and Shiprock, a straighter road, but much more difficult to navigate. Do you remember what a task it was to go from town to the Laplata river, and how you wonder ed whether or not you could get across it? Did you ever hear of anyone’s getting “stuck” in it? You know it had no bridge at that time. Do you remember what a gigantic task it was to get up the hill on the other side, over the mesa, and down the hill at the “Harper Dugway”? What a feeling of relief if you were lucky enough to make it? Do you remember the long sandy stretch this side of the old Kirtland mill site? How many times did you have to go into low gear to navigate at all? How many times have you had to get out and shovel sand this side of the mill? Do you re member the little hill you go down there and the crossing of the arroyo?—You-know-there-were-no bridges on the arroyas then to speak of. Then the Kirtland lane and the valley thru Fruitland? The Shumway arroyo with no bridge and the road thru Jewett valley? This road was more than a hundred feet wide in places and on whatever part of it you tried to travel you wished you had tried some other part. If it was muddy it was muddy, and if it was dry it was so ratty that you had fear of losing your teeth! A Day of Trials From the Hogback to Shiprock, when it rained just enough and not too much, which was seldom, was our road anything to brag about. Mr. Shelton did at that particular time make an effort to have a road, but ev en that road was almost impassable when wet. I have seen it when it was all a team of horses could do to get thru with a light wagon. From Ship rock to Gallup? There was not ev en a decent trail, not a bridge between Shiprock and Tohatchi, a hundred sand arroyos to cross, here a mud flat and there a stretch of blow sand. Ever try to make it when it was rain ing? Or on a dry day when the wind was blowing? And most of the days were in one or the other of these clas ses. And yet people sit up today and “cuss” our roads, our maintainance crews, our County Commissioners and any one else they can think of. The First Mail Truck In July 1914, I put the first truck that was ever used in this valley on the mail route between here and Ship rock, I had borrowed $2,250 on some property in Alabama and but the truck and borrowed $400 from the bank here to pay the freight on it. Of all the people of the town so far as I ever knew there was but one man who did not say openly that I could never make a go of it. Harry Baldwin admitted that I might possibly make it, but he was very doubtful. Many said that I could not even get thru to Shiprock once with it and even get my heart skips a beat or two when I think of how nearly true their pro phecy was. The new truck was a days late in arriving, but reached here at noon on a Saturday. We un loaded it that afternoon, and about one o'clock on Sunday afternoon, in company with two garage men, Char lie Marshall the veteran mail carrier, on the route, and one or two others, I set out for Shiprock to bring the mail up the next morning. The weather was beautiful and the wee wee en tirely dry. We managed to the Laplata, climb the hill, ae safely down it on the ae side, get thru the long sand bed and across the mill ar royo, and succeeded in getting on top of the coal bank hill, alo came our first July rain. We all on Kentucky Mesa for a whi decided to try to get across the way before the water got too deep to to cross. When we arrived on the bank the water was already coming down, but one of the garage men that he could make it. Sly turned the wheel over to him—you see I had in nerrable at all im getting half way mo trou at across. art is, he reached the mic ing. Now if you will bear in in mind that it was still inn lg ore a iy’ eine. Sat I had $2.08 $2,050 of bor rowed money in Sia ouet non true! t practically every son in the entire valley could say, “I told of mar fa tackage (Comlaned next next week)
Newspaper Details
Farmington Times Hustler
Farmington, New Mexico, US
Fri, Feb 17, 1928
Page 5
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
NM, USA 28 May 2026
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