Tag Archives: History

A plank road was once the way between Yuma and San Diego

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Arizonans think nothing of a quick weekend drive from Phoenix to San Diego’s beaches in about six hours. But a century ago, that trip could take the better part of two days across primitive roads and nearly impassable sand dunes.

Horses were more reliable for traversing sand dunes until enterprising road builders came up with a boardwalk for motorcars in 1915.

That’s right. Early adopters of horseless-carriage technology built a road of wooden planks across seven miles of sand west of Yuma in California. Arizona notably did not follow California down the path of building wooden roads.

The Plank Road and the Colorado River bridge at Yuma, completed in April 1915, were key steps forward for motorists traveling across the Southwest deserts in the early 20th century. Those advancements also were factors in competition between San Diego and Los Angeles to be the western terminus for a cross-country highway along a southern route.

The Colorado River State Historic Park in Yuma has a Plank Road display with a Model T automobile. There’s also a preserved section of the Plank Road at the Bureau of Land Management’s Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area south of Interstate 8 on the Gray’s Well Road about 12 miles west of Yuma. That’s where this Bureau of Land Management photo was taken.

Plank Road skeptics like civil engineer Joseph Lippincott, an Auto Club of Southern California consultant, pegged the wooden highway as “the most asinine thing he had ever heard of,” according to a San Diego Tribune report at the time.

But the road, despite its flaws, carried traffic for more than a decade until it was replaced in 1926 by an asphalt road that became US 80 and more recently Interstate 8.

One Yuma merchant praised the Plank Road. “It is no ride across the Sahara Desert, but rather a pleasure trip anyone can enjoy,” the man said, according to B. Johnny Rube in his 1996 book A Wooden Road Through the Hollow of God’s Hand.

Initially, the Plank Road was boards laid in parallel tracks to provide a path for adventurous drivers. In 1915, the California Highway Commission took over the Plank Road, installing 12-foot by 8-foot wooden sections on the dunes west of Yuma.

The knock on the one-lane Plank Road was that it forced drivers traveling in opposite directions to use pullouts every 1,000 feet to pass each other. Maintenance was a constant problem as horse-drawn scrapers were used to clear the sand, which damaged the planks and made for a rough ride. Sand drifted across the planks and drivers would “lose” the road and end up stuck in the sand. That created commerce for the Fort Yuma Quechan Indians whose horses served as the tow trucks of the era, pulling cars out of the sand and back onto the Plank Road, said Tina Clark, historian of the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area.

The Plank Road was an extension of previous methods early motorists used to get through sand dunes and other difficult terrain.

In 1910, the National Highway Association employed a pathfinder named A.L. Westgard to explore cross-country routes from Washington, D.C., to Los Angeles. He’s been described as the “Marco Polo of the Motor Age.”

While scouting a route called the Trail to Sunset , Westgard used rolls of canvas on the sand to get across the Yuma dunes. He later carried wooden planks on his vehicle to get across sand or mud flats, according Arizona Highways, published by the Arizona Department of Transportation.

Happy Birthday Milton Friedman

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milton_friedmanNobel award winning economist Milton Friedman was born July 31, 1912 in Brooklyn, New York City, NY. Friedman was the undisputed champion of the proper capitalist system as described by Adam Smith in An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations published in 1776. He embarrassed the unconstitutional Federal Reserve by proving how they caused the Great Depression. Ben Bernake later admitted they “accidentally” caused the collapse of economies around the world.

Friedman correctly pointed out that in the era of less government regulation, the mass of the people were more well-off than in highly regulated society of today. In fact the “gap” between the poor and the wealthy continues to rise and the mainstream media questions what government regulation it will take to stop it. They championed the $15 an hour minimum wage in Washington which had the result of the loss of jobs as fast food restaurants installed ordering kiosks.

Of his many books, his most noted work is probably Capitalism and Freedom published in 1962. In it he points out the fallacy of “progressives” usurping the term “liberal” to describe their Marxist political philosophy.

His emphasis was on education in skills, instead of degrees in poetry and feminine studies, as a means to escape poverty. He founded the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice.

Milton Friedman passed away in November of 2006.


Get out of town: Explore Route 66

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UPDATED 7/29 4:02 Thanks to Linda Messimer for the correction on Davenport Lake.

WILLIAMS— Williams has the distinction of being the last route 66 town bypassed by interstate 40. The mural on the wall by Circle K is a tribute to that. So while you are here you might want to stay an extra day in Williams to explore the Mother Road.

"On Arizona Highway 87, south of Chandler. Maricopa County, Arizona." by Dorothea Lange - U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

“On Arizona Highway 87, south of Chandler. Maricopa County, Arizona.” by Dorothea Lange – U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

Route 66 gained the name of the Mother Road because of its significance to history. During the depression when tragedy struck the Great Plains—in what was called the great Dust Bowl—thousands took to Route 66 to travel west in search of a better life. This was depicted in the book and movie The Grapes of Wrath.

Route 66 was instrumental in winning World War I and World War II. Old-timers told me of the days when they would watch convoys of men and material moving down Route 66 to be shipped off to war. Most people don’t realize that Interstate 40, and all other freeways for that matter, were started by President Eisenhower who brought the idea back from the German autobahn.

Route 66 has seen a resurgence of interest since it was decomissioned. Williams and Flagstaff have a significant amount of Route 66 still available for travel. The stretch we will examine in this article is from Bellmont to Williams.

Of course it goes down to Ash Fork which is another significant Route 66 town, as well as a railroad center in the old west. Ash Fork history can be seen at the Route 66 Museum in Ash Fork on, well… Route 66.
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Babbitt-Polson Warehouse Stage exposed

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UPDATED: Feb. 15, 8:35
640-bp-bw-i-001WILLIAMS – We discussed a little about the history of the Babbitt-Polson warehouse in our last article. The warehouse is the last example of warehouses that lined the railroad.

Eventually shipping via the road declined with the expansion of Route 66. These use of these warehouses as temporary storage for trade goods gave way to other uses. Like many other abandon buildings, there was also the inevitable graffiti. Opal Means obtained one of the warehouses and said that the inside wood had been removed, so any history is gone. This warehouse seems to be the only one with graffiti remaining.
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The inside is a conspiracy theory tribute to one of the truly forgotten wars fought by the United States. The now imprisoned isle of Cuba was seeking independence from Spain which began in 1895. What is interesting is that the American media was used to portray the brutality of the Spanish in an effort to gain support for the war. It worked. It was this event that caused the term yellow journalism to be coined. An article in Wikipedia explains:

The most famous example of a claim is the apocryphal story that artist Frederic Remington telegrammed Hearst to tell him all was quiet in Cuba and “There will be no war.” Hearst responded “Please remain. You furnish the pictures and I’ll furnish the war.” Historians now believe that no such telegrams ever were sent.

But Hearst became a war hawk after a rebellion broke out in Cuba in 1895. Stories of Cuban virtue and Spanish brutality soon dominated his front page. While the accounts were of dubious accuracy, the newspaper readers of the 19th century did not expect, or necessarily want, his stories to be pure nonfiction. Historian Michael Robertson has said that “Newspaper reporters and readers of the 1890s were much less concerned with distinguishing among fact-based reporting, opinion and literature.”

The sinking of the Maine on February 15, 1898 was the impetus for this war.

There is a local Arizona historic connection with the sinking of the USS Maine. Along Route 66 in Parks you will find a railroad sign that says Maine. There is a town which still exists called Maine near Parks. They took on the name after the sinking of the Maine. There is no downtown Maine, of course. The metropolitan of Parks absorbed the town of Maine over time. The Parks school is still the Maine Consolidated School district.

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The national government and the media portrayed it as a sinking by a Spanish mine. Because of the media fervor, no one questioned it. It was only years later that it began to leak that the USS Maine was probably sunk because of an explosion in their own magazine. This was probably not a “false flag” like the Gulf of Tonkin. It was probably just a happy coincidence for Theodore Roosevelt who was pining for war. He was able to convince President McKinley to convince Congress to declare war over the incident. Particularly since public opinion was set by the media.

The result of the war was the acquisition of Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Guam and other territories from Spain.

It appears from the dates that the warehouses probably were abandon around 1911. That is when the graffiti seems to have started. Some of the graffiti in the warehouse refer to the sinking of the USS Maine. Some of the graffiti are simply names of people in Williams history.
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Time capsule dating to 1795 included coins, newspapers

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capsuleinternal8989BOSTON – Early residents of Boston valued a robust press as much as their history and currency if the contents of a time capsule dating back to the years just after the Revolutionary War are any guide.

When conservators at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston gingerly removed items from the box Tuesday, they found five tightly folded newspapers, a medal depicting George Washington, a silver plaque, two dozen coins, including one dating to 1655, and the seal of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

While some of the coins appeared corroded, other items were in good condition and fingerprints could be seen on the silver plaque.

The capsule was embedded in a cornerstone of the Massachusetts Statehouse when construction began in 1795. It was placed there by Revolutionary era luminaries including Paul Revere and Samuel Adams, governor of Massachusetts at the time.

Read more at FOX News

Happy Birthday John Marshall

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The power to tax involves the power to destroy,” wrote Chief Justice John Marshall, McCulloch v. Maryland, 1819.

The thirteen original States were a band of brothers, who suffered, fought, bled, and triumphed together; they might, perhaps, have safely confided each his separate interest to the general will; but if ever the day should come, when representatives from beyond the Rocky Mountains shall sit in this capitol; if ever a numerous and inland delegation shall wield the exclusive power of making regulations for our foreign commerce, without community of interest or knowledge of our local circumstances, the Union will not stand; it cannot stand; it cannot be the ordinance of God or nature, that it should stand. It has been said by very high authority, that the power of Congress to regulate commerce, ‘sweeps away the whole subject matter.’ If so, it makes a wreck of State legislation, leaving only a few standing ruins, that mark the extent of the desolation. – Gibbons v. Ogden, 1824

Chief Justice John Marshall was born this day in 1755. He was not only a brilliant jurist, but also fought in a War for Independence. McCulloch v. Maryland is one of his much quoted cases; particularly in the area of the Tenth Amendment.

His decision in the case of Gibbons v. Ogden was so maligned by subsequent Supreme Courts (Mainly during the Franklin Delano Roosevelt era) that the actual decision in the case has been lost.

Chief Justice Marshall is quoted by the so-called left when it serves their “decades of precedence” on gun control. They do not refer to this case when it comes to the matter of the bureaucracies they have created. In this case Chief Justice Story ruled bureaucracies, and particularly “private” agencies such as the Federal Reserve, unconstitutional. In Gibbons he wrote:

…for the power which is exclusively delegated to Congress, can only be exercised by Congress itself, and cannot be sub-delegated by it.

Article I, Section 1 states:

All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

Only CONGRESS has the power to make law or to effect anything that can be construed as law. They cannot delegate that authority to a bureaucracy.

Article I, Section 8, Clauses 2 and 5 give CONGRESS the power to:

To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;
AND
To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;

Therefore that cannot be turned over to any other authority.

For a brief introduction to this Chief Justice, see American Minute with Bill Federer

A journey through history

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Opinion By Glen Davis

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Earning the Order of the Locks in 1978.

You may have heard that the Panama Canal recently celebrated its 100th anniversary on August 15. That news, no doubt, sparked every response from raucous partying to a shrug of the shoulders. If you heard about it at all. I cannot be sure about the raucous parties, either, as I was not invited to any of them.
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To explain the significance of the event to me; in short I passed through the Panama Canal in March of 1978 when it was a mere 64-years-old.

Please, please. Hold your applause.

When I joined the Navy in 1977, my first assignment was aboard the pre-commissioning unit for the USS Oldendorf (DD-972). The ship was built by Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi. The ship was homeported in San Diego. As a consequence, after commissioning in March of 1978 we passed through the Panama Canal to get to the Pacific side.

Our first mission was to kick the tires and check the oil looking for any “warranty” items needing repairs. That required returning to Pascagoula giving us another chance to pass through the canal.

What I remember being most impressed about was what an engineering marvel it was to that day. I recalled the hundreds of lives lost to accident and disease to accomplish this feat.
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To pass through the canal, the ship was pulled into the locks by engines set on tracks on the sides of the canal. The ship is raised or lowered to get it to the appropriate level to travel to the next stage whether it be to the next lock or one of the lakes created in between. All of this is accomplished by the force of the water, itself. There are no pumps, as I understand it.

640-790700-004While this may seem insignificant to you, as I will someday grow old, I look back on some of the places I visited in my Naval career. I reflect on the changes I have witnessed.
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The Tenth Amendment

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“When government acts in excess of its lawful powers, individual liberty is at stake.”—Justice Kennedy, Supreme Court, Bond v. United States (564 U.S. __ (2011))

“One great object of the federal Convention was, to give more power to future Assemblies of the States. In this they have done liberally, without partiallity to the interests of the states individually; and their intentions were known before the honourable body was dissolved.”—Casius

Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled.—Articles of Confederation, Article II, March 1, 1781

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“But let it be admitted, for argument’s sake, that mere wantonness and lust of domination would be sufficient to beget that disposition; still it may be safely affirmed, that the sense of the constituent body of the national representatives, or, in other words, the people of the several States, would control the indulgence of so extravagant an appetite. It will always be far more easy for the State governments to encroach upon the national authorities than for the national government to encroach upon the State authorities. The proof of this proposition turns upon the greater degree of influence which the State governments if they administer their affairs with uprightness and prudence, will generally possess over the people; a circumstance which at the same time teaches us that there is an inherent and intrinsic weakness in all federal constitutions; and that too much pains cannot be taken in their organization, to give them all the force which is compatible with the principles of liberty.”—Alexander Hamilton, Federalist Paper No. 17

Thomas Jefferson on government powers

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“Our tenet ever was…that Congress had not unlimited powers to provide for the general welfare, but were restrained to those specifically enumerated, and that, as it was never meant that they should provide for that welfare but by the exercise of the enumerated powers, so it could not have been meant they should raise money for purposes which the enumeration did not place under their action; consequently, that the specification of powers is a limitation of the purposes for which they may raise money.” — Thomas Jefferson 1817