The Bad River news. [volume] (Philip, Stanley County, S.D.) 19??-1912, 1912-02-01
SCORES ACTION Of COUNTY DADS
William Walpole, Sr., Writes of
the Scheme to Maintain the
Old Deadwood Trail as
a Public Highway

The following article is repub-
lished from last weeks issue of
the News and criticised by Mr..
Walpole, who IS always ready to
champion the cause of the farmers
when he feels that their rights are
being infringed upon.
The county commissioners of
Stanley county have filed with the
state engineer map of the legal
highway following the old Dead
wood Trail across that county, by
way of Hayes and Ottumwa,
Philip and Cottonwood to the west
line of the county. They state
that it is a regularly established
county highway and now in good
shape and that if it is made a part
of a cross state roadway from
the east to the west line
of the state, the county will
keep the road in good shape for
travel at all times. The old Dead
wood Trail was public highway
for more than 20 years before the
settlers came into Stanley county,
and while some of them have
fenced this trail in places there is
every reason to believe that there
would be but little trouble in
having practically the old road
preserved and a fine automobile
path across the state maintained.
The people of the Black Hills are
in earnest in the Good Roads pro-
ject and the people of Pierre
should likewise take an interest in
this proposition as across the state
automobile roads should run
through Pierre, where people
could see the state house, have
good hotels for stopping over and
the only sure crossing on the Miss
ouri river at all seasons of the
year between Souix City and Mo-
bridge. The Stanley County peo-
pie are doing the right thing in
getting busy on this state road
project. This paper is in favor
of amending the constitution so
that the state can engage in inter
nal improvements. because the
time is soon coming when the peo-
pie will realize that good roads
every where means money to
everybody. This old Deadwood
Trail has a historic and romatic
history as we'll as being the most
likely trail between the east
and the west sections of the state.
Everybody should boost for Good
Roads and every body in this state
should work to have the old Dead
wood Trail become the first
practical good road in South
Dakota. Pierre Capital Journal.
The above article copied from
the Pierre. Capital Journal, is mis-
leading in many respects and our
farmer loving county commission
ers have over-stepped their author
ity by filing with the state en-
gineer map of the supposed legal
highway, following the old Dead
wood Trail and going through
Philip and Cottonwood, which is
also misleading, as the old trail is
twelve or fifteen miles north of
those towns. BY what authority
do our county fathers call it legal
highway? 1t was never used by the
government but was blazed and
marked out by the old time freight
ers, of which the writer was q
proud member in 1875. Those
were the men that established the
Deadwood trail when some of ouI
commissioners we're doing the
milking stunt or wearing petit
coats. We never claimed 1t to be
regular established highway fo1
it ran angling across the section
lines. Our commissioners say, Iii
this land grab is a go) Stanley
county will keep the road in goot
shape for travel at all times"
We didn't know the presen