The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1922-07-07
BRIDGE CELEBRATION AT
BELvIDERE BIG AFFAIR

and County Commissioner M. II.
Weed and j. H. Bundy went to the
new BeNiderc bridge that spans the
BIG White river about four miles
south of Belvidere, to take in the big
bridge dedication celebration, and it
was some celebration There was
large crowd in attendance and the
stage was set for good time, with a
bowcry dance in the evening. The
big drawing card was Gov. McMaster,
who delivered the address of the day,
and the ball game, between Belvidere
and Midland, We did not stay until
the program was rendered, so can not
give much of an account of the cele-
bration itself. There was a big crowd
m attendance from Mellette, Jones
and Jackson counties, and the celebra-
tion was held on the Mellette county
side of the river.
We made the trip from Wood to the
bridge over the Memorial Highway,
and it was the first time that we had
the privilege of seeing the west end Of
our own county. The Memorial High
way from Wood to Cedarbutte has
been completed and it is certainly a
mighty fine road. From Cedarbutte
to the bridge the road is now being
graded, but it will be some time be-
fore it is completed and brought up
to the standard of the balance of the
Memorial Highway, but when it is
completed this road will not only
shorten the distance to the Black Hills
some twenty-four miles, but it will
take the autoist through the real
scenic portion of Mellette county. It
was the first time we had seen the
Bad Lands which are in the western
portion of this county, and which af-
ford much beautiful scenery, with
nice farms scattered here and there
through the wonderful natural seem
cry. When the new road is CON-
pleted, and is given the proper sort
of publicity, there is no good reason
why this road should not be the choice
of major portion of the auto traffic
coming from the east via Omaha and
Norfolk, not only on account of the
shorter distance to the Hills, but on
account Of the scenery that the tour
ist will enjoy in travelling this new
road. The new bridge at Belvidere
certainly is a dandy, one Of the best
that spans the Big White, and here
the Memorial Highway connects with
the famed Custer Battlefield Hiway,
which is said to be one of the best
auto roads in the state.
On our return tri p We traversed the
Custer Battlefield Hiway, passing
through the towns of Belvidere, Stam-
ford Okaton and Mudro, then back
to Wood via Westover and Cody.
That stretch Of road between Murdo
and the Westover bridge is one of the
best pieces of road we struck on the
entire trip. 1t was a pleasure to
drive car over this state road. The
road from the Westover bridge to
Wood is badly in need of grading,
but the county is now working on this
road, and we understand expects to
have this road graded within the pres
ent year, so it will not be long until
this stretch of road will be put in
condition. !.
Crops look fine all along the line
that we travelled. Corn is coming
along nicely and promises good crop.
The small grain is ripening and prac-
tically ready for the harvester and it
is Of mighty good quality. Alfalfa is
great, but is much better in this coun-
ty than it is either in Jones or Jack
son, as far as we could see. The
new school house at Murdo is going
up and it certainly will he mighty
fine building when completed. We
dropped into Hart 8 big store at MUIR
do long enough to say hello, and he is
certainly doing big business. He is
one of the biggest advertisers in the
west river country and he attributes
his success in great measure to the
liberal use of printers ink. He had
Ii big force Of clerks and they all
seemed to be busy. We enjoyed our
4 outing--the weather was ideal for the
tril-our only regret was that we
!, did not have the time to spare to en-
| ,oy more Of the scenery in the west
end of the county and to take in more
, of the celebration.