The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1919-08-22
BINGHAM GETTING
BAD REPUTATION
Tourists Not Routed
Thru Idaho on Ac-
count of Bad Roads
TO BE REPAIRED

& OF county commissioners of Bing.
"A nam county, returned the last of the
# week from the Yellowstone National
PARK, where he attended large con-
u ventlon of highway boosters repre-
sentlng intermountain states and the
government. The purpose of the
meeting, which was held at the
Grand Canyon hotel on August 10
and II, was to come to an under
standing as to what was purposed
by the bill now up before congress to
provide for a system of park-to-park
fHlighways in the west.
Mr.. Albright, assistant to the
secretary of the interior, from Wash
1ngton, D. G. attended the meeting
to explain what the government
!. would do under the new arrange
ment should the bill pass. He
i showed that valuable cooperation
might be had from federal authorit-
les If the states and counties would
A unite and back the park-to-park
highway.
The bill died in the senate after
passing the house because stock and
sheep raisers objected to certain en-
fragments of parks and extension of
& road-ways for the reason that htey
\ thought their grazing interests in
public lands would suffer. Mr.. ALI
u bright assured them that their in
terests would be looked after gen
u erously, where the improvements
Il touched them, and that most Of the
lands to be used for additional park
area did not compose part of the
II grazing lands at all.
4 Ma new entrance to the Yellowstone
park at Victor, Wyo. will be opened
up, but owing to the presence and
the strenuous arguments of eastern
Idaho men the proposal to close the
Ashton entrance was killed.
Mr.. Bills said that the chief thing
he learned at the meeting was how
bad our highways seem in the eyes
of outsiders. The secretary of the
Weber club in Ogden, received about
200 inquiries day thruout the
summer as to the best way to get to
the park, they were told, and he
wasn't sending them thru Idaho. He
. heard constant complaints Of the
road between Ft. Hall and Blackfoot,
and that other bad stretch between
Ashton and the park, and he was
/ sending 80 per cent of them thru
Wyoming to Victor. That was the
rNson for the proposal to close the
Ashton entrance.
Mr.. Albright reported that the
government was doing extensive i'm
provement work along the Ashton
park road, and Mr.. Bills said he
found IL no,,oh hottar cnr,;po ho ol1
than going up, owing to the work
being done.
Nearly every county, except Bing-
ham, is planning to pave the Yellow
stone highway clear thru, using fed
eral aid. Bingham county was asked
about it's intentions and Mr. Bills
told the meeting that the road be-
tween Ft. Hall and Blackfoot would
be built. and that he had already
asked for state and federal aid for
tint purpose. Asked if Bingham
county would build good roads to
connect with the other counties Of
Bannock and Bonneville, he said that !
was the intention.
1T is a matter of the people get !
ting behind this park-to-park high !
way proposition and each community |
doing it's SHARE" said Mr.. Bills. 1T |
is the wish of all>the delegates repre-
senting western states at that meet
ing to combine these states in adver-
tising the whole west and draw east
ern people here for their vacation |
travels. 1t is necessary to give them
the good roads to travel on. The |
pEk-to-park highway will make one
large circle passing thru each ma
stie2al park.
Z think 1t a lucky thing that Bing-
ham county and other eastern Idaho |
counties had delegates at the meeting |
Tor they might have closed up the |
southwestern entrance entirely and
sent all park tourists thru Wyom.
ing"