Idaho County free press., 1923-05-24
WRITES
ON ELK CITY
ROAD

Editor Free Press: The pipe-dream
OF an outlet for the Elk City basin by
the way of O'Hara creek to the Selway
river is as old as the camp itself, the
owner Of the first pack train taking in
the proverbial twenty barrels of flour
and forty barrels of whisky, having at
tempted to find better route than the
old Nez Perce trail of the Buffalo coun-
try, east of the continental divide. The
Indians, with instructive sagacity, fol-
lowed the high ridges and SUBMITS to
head the canyons and avoid the springs
and swamps which infest the noun
tains below the SUBMITS. Lloyd Ma
gruder, merchant, of Elk City, return
ing with his pack train from Virginia
City, Mont, and brutally murdered on
this trail Oct. IL, 1868, also spent time
and money on the alleged O'Hara route
without result. The country has been
prOspected and gone over by hundreds
of people in the sixty years which have
elapsed since the discovery of the Elk
City mines in 1861 one county survey,
by j. w. Shannon county surveyor,
was made at the behest of the county
commissioners, and reported it i'm
practicable, owing to the miles Of
swamped land along the projected
route. Daniel Bingham, of Tahoe,
formerly county commissioner, went
Power the OHara route in the same
interest and reported adversely. On
two occasions within my own knowl-
edge, Elk City people liha3ced recon-
Laissance surveys with the same OBJ
ject in view, without results
Action BY Elk CITY
The resurrection of this ancient
pipe-dream within the last thirty days,
by politicians and other interested par
ties, and its endorsement at this late
date by the residents of Elk City,
comes therefore as a surprise, particu-
larly because the first official action of
the Grangeville Commercial club in
January, 1914, in promoting the South
Fork highway project, was enthusi-
astically supported by the Elk City
Good Roads association, as the follow
ing correspondence attests:
Elk City, Idaho
Feb. "a, 1914.
w. w. Brown, Esq,
Grangeville, Idaho.
Dear Sir:
Mr.. McNutt showed me your letter
Of the 18th inst, wherein you ask for
information regarding our position
in the South Fork road. My article in
both your local papers places our po-
sitiOn before You in a fairly accurate
manner; first, get a through survey.
Our efforts will be confined entirely to
this end of the game, and just as soon
as our people here understand that
there is fighting chance to get this
road, think you will have no fault to
find with our cooperation, at least for
such a small force md limited resour-
ceS, and as much, or il fact most, of
our contribution to the enteIprise will
be in the form of voluntary labor.
would suggest that this is mighty
good time to put Mr.. Denhy's sensible
suggestion of a couple of years ago
into practice, that is, that those wish
ing to do so, may apply their annual
assessment work upon the road till it
is completed.
1 believe ruling by the land office
to this effect would be sufficient, which |
we ought to be able to secure through
our congressional delegation and the
forest bureau; however, we are, in the
absence of legal advice, pr dividtlx !
along this line, and ask Grangeville's !
cooperation to that end.
Our executive committee, IT, their
zeal, have shot some random bolts, at /
the expense, am afraid, Of the above
two measures, in asking an appropria-
alton from the postal department with
out definite cost figures upon which to
base their request. other than the pro-
bable saving i'm the transportation of
parcel post over the new route as
against the old; but am hoping those
bolts may strike something besides
fire. Well be more careful in the
In conclusion / would like to have
your plan of campaign to the end that
We may back you up with intelligence,
thus saving divided efforts and time.
Yours truly,
JIM McCAFFREY,
Chairman Good Roads association
Letter from McNutt
Elk City, Idaho.
Feb. "a, 1914.