The border vidette., 1923-04-07
OLD SPANISH TRAIL.
A. n. Gardner in The Prospector,
Says volstead Has Nothing On It.

AL UJO WOLIo lOPSS d lOVGT duU
all tourists love good roads, and
it is my good fortune and pleas
ure to tell of the condition at the
present time Of the longest and
best stretch Of transcontinenta
highway crossing America west
from the 1O5th meridian, of any
highway between the Mexican
and Canadian lines, and which
point is at the little town of
Kent, Texas, where the Old
Spanish Trail and the Bankhead
highway merge. At this point
both highways use the same
route to San Diego. From Kent
to Ell Paso is a fine gravelled
road with the El Paso end paved
for many miles east of Ell Paso
while from El Paso to Las Cru
ces it is paved, then from Las
Cruces to Lords sburg the road is
both gravelled and standard
built, with the exception of a few
miles of good desert road. From
Lordsburg to Rodeo standard
gravelled road, Rodeo to Doug
las the same with concrete dips.
Douglas to Bisbee paved, Bisbee
to sixteen miles east of Tomb
stone standard built gravelled
road, from that point to Tomb
stone, ten miles, paved. Tomb
stone to Tucson standard built
highway surfaced for the most
part with decomposed granite
and very fast Tucson to Rillito
bridge nearly ten miles paved,
Rillito to a few miles north of
Florence standard built gravel.
led road, thence to the Maricopa
line, same, from that point paw
ed to Buckeye, IS miles west of
Phoenix. From Buckeye to Gil
lespie dam road is financed, but
now in good shape, Gillespie
dam to Gila Bend state highway
department just finishing stan.
ard gravelled surface roadway.
Gila Bend westward Contractor
Mackey is just completing a Is
mile contract of standard road.
From the Yuma Maricopa line
there is a seven. mile stretch that
has been allotted Federal Aid
and will be let to contract right
away. From Aztec, % mile
section is in process of construc
tion and from there to Yuma IS
miles of standard built gravelled
surfaced highway is complete
and open.
Crossing the fine bridge over
the Colorado river at Yuma we
find that the engineers are now
on location for the California
State Highway Commission of
road that will be paved thru the
Yuma Indian reservation to the
east end of the planked road
over the sand hills. The sand
hills are negotiated without trou.
BILE over this planked road and
from the west end of the plank
ed road the Willie people are
finishing a paved road which
brings you to the Hi Line Canal
near Holtville, from which point
the road is standard built and
either paved or gravelled all the
way to San Diego.
This is the true log of the Old
Spanish Trail and Bankhead
highways from Kent, Texas, to
San Diego, and it will be better
with each succeeding day.
Information from Yuma is to
the effect that travel is picking
up every day and that even now
the two northern routes in Yuma
county are only getting an even
break in the traffic, regardless
of the fact that the people east
have not heard of the conditions
that now exist thru Yuma.
The Lincoln highway covers
a good deal of mileage at $500
elevation, and every other trans
continental highway east and
west the same, while the route
herein logged reaches at it's
highest point only six thousand
and thirty feet, and that for only
twelve feet on the level between
Bisbee and Tombstone.
It is never snowbound, it is
nearly always in sunshine and
from Ell Paso all the way to San
Diego it is in close touch with
the "moonshine," especially at
all Mexican border points such
as Juarez, Aqua Prieta, Naco,
Nogales, Calexico, Mexicali and
Tia Juana-but why rub it in on
the other transcontinental high
ways? They are all offering
: