The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1926-04-30
CBy MRS. M. E. PLAssMANN)


~ INCE the invention Of the auto
~ mobile, and it's general use, the
~ country as a whole is interest
ed as never before, in the building of
good roads. Their desirability has
always been recognized, but it has
not always been easy to ecure the
money to build them; now, the pub
lie demand for them is so impOrtu-
nate that it cannot be gainsaid. Hence
the magnificent highways stretching
across Montana.
The history of roads and their con-
strUctiOn has all the charm Of fic-
ton, as we trace it from the begin
ning. At first there were no roads,
and with the westward trend Of set
Element, they had to be hewed
through the forest by our sturdy
fOrefathers, who followed Indian
trails, instead of surveyors marks or
stakes.
Braddock rendered inestimable
service by the road he made which is
said to have more than compensated
the colonies for his defeat. Down
chat road flOcked the settlers look
ing for homes. Following BraddOck
came Brigadier John Forbes who re-
fused to be guided by the advice that
ne take the BraddOck road, but laid
out his own route through the will
derness to the Ohio. This road Of
fered a new outlet for h-omeseekers.
In 1889 Congress directed the Zane
Brothers to develop an old Indian
trail between Wheeling and Lime
stone on the Ohio river. The trail
ran beside the river and crossed the
SciOtO at the Indian village of Chilli
Gothic, near where Paint Creek joins
the river. The Zane Brothers did
not build a rOad-they simply mark
ed the route to be followed. An In
dian trail is not generally wide, and
the settlers who tried to take their
heavy wagons over Zane's Trace, as
it was called, must have had a hard
time of it. 1t was not alone the for
est which blocked their way, but
there were swamps to be overcome,
and rivers to be crossed without the
aid of bridges or ferries, but the pi-
Oneers were not to be daunted by
such trfles. They cut down trees
and made corduroy roads through the
swamps, and how they managed to
cross the rivers "a only be surmised
Surely the pioneers were begin.
ming to understand the value Of gOOC
roads, or roads of any description
and this appreciation found voice il
the Enabling Act Of Ohio, that five
per cent of the net proceeds from
the sale of lands within her borders
should "be applied to the laying on.
and making of public roads" in tina
state ''tO the navigable waters EN-
plying into the Atlantic. This was il
1902, and, says Professor PaXOn
the next spring part Of this wa
dedicated to the tideWater road"
Three years later in 1906 it wa.
decided to build a road along tn,
general course of the BraddOck route
from the Potomac to somewhere be
tween Wheeling and SteUbenville
commissioners were appointed tt
name it's terminal point.
AS is usual, in such cases, ever,
town in western Pennsylvani;
thought the road should pass nea
them, but the commissioners decid
ed that it should start from For
Cumberland on the Potomac, tn
river being navigable to that town
From here the road passed thrOugl
UniOntown, Brownsville, Washing
ton, and then to Wheeling. 1t was t
be four rods wide, and built of stone
with bitches and ~cUlverts, as well a
permanent bridges" The center O
the road was raised for wagons.
In 1911 contracts we're let and tn
work begun, when it was in~terTUpte
by the wal of 1912. In 1914 tn
work was again under way, and a
fast as a section was finished it wa
put to use, with the result that whe
in 1918 the western portion was con
pleted the eastern end was wOrn OF