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1915-1938 The
Weston-Elgin highway had its formal start at a meeting held at
Tollgate, September 27, 1915, when the Blue Mountain Road association was
organized and set to work on the plan to get
a completed and good road. Previous meetings had been held at
Weston. Paul
H. Weyrauch of Walla Walla was named president; H. H. Weatherspoon of
Elgin and A. C. Miller of Enterprise, vice presidents; L. B. Tuttle of
Elgin, secretary, and Frank E. Smith of Elgin, treasurer. A graveled
road was desired-that was before the days of oiled roads. Three
years passed after the Tollgate meeting before a survey was made, and nine
years more before much was done. The
survey was made in 1918 and in 1927 Umatilla county graded and graveled a
stretch of road out of Weston leading into the mountains for seven miles.
In 1930, a stretch of road 5.4 miles in length was finished from McDougall
camp to Tollgate, and in 1932 the seven mile gap between the end of the
Weston road and McDougall camp was completed, making a splendid road from
the Walla Walla valley to Tollgate, but leaving many miles of bad and
worse road from Tollgate to Elgin. In
1932 the bureau of public roads let contracts for 10.5 miles of clear.ng
on the Weston-Elgin route. Then the federal authorities and Union
county cooperated in grading out from Elgin. The grading was completed in
1935 and surfacing work started in 1936. It was completed in 1937,
except for a 3.22-mile gap near Elgin. It was not until last fall
that the contract was let for this, the last link. The
first wagon road across the mountains to connect the two valleys was built
in 1873 with money raised in Walla Walla and elsewhere by the
Summerville-Walla Walla Wagon Road company,
later known as the Woodward Road company, and it was built to intersect
the old emigrant wagon road from Elgin to Weston at Spout springs. Most of
the Grande Ronde valley
farmers hauled their products to Walla Walla in the early days over the
toll road down Lincton mountain to the valley near Milton. Later
came the agitation, to do away with tolls on the road and for
improvement of the .route, and this developed into the proposal to
have a new route. Many of those
most keenly interested in the road did not live to see the plans work out. Numerous
men played important parts in the effort to get a good road constructed
across the Blue mountains to connect the Grande Ronde and Walla Walla
valleys. Much preliminary effort in the way of talk and promotion was
necessary even before the meeting was held at Tollgate in 1915. A.
F. Alexander of Walla Walla, associated with the
Up-to-the-Times magazine, had much to do with it. It was
his dream and he never failed to talk about it when out in the field.
Weston and Elgin men also were alive to the needs and worked unceasingly
for it. Considerable
confusion has arisen among participants in the earliest promotion of the
road relative to dates and meetings dealing with the formation of the
promoting group. Some remember the original meetings were held in
Tollgate, and others remember the association was created at Weston, on
dates widely separated. After some research into old files and letters and
interviews with many of the original promoters, it develops that there
were two associations, which, each in its turn, took an active part. By
1922 the original association had become rather inactive and need of a
revived association was felt
to exist. Consequently, a meeting was held in Weston, July 8, 1922, at
which were present some 100 leading men from the two states and three
counties. Clark Wood of Weston
presided as temporary chairman and Pal Clark of Walla Walla as temporary
secretary. Formation
of the Blue Mountain Highway association was a result of the meeting, and
the officers elected at that gathering were: Paul
H. Weyrauch of Walla Walla, president; E, G. Bailey, then school
superintendent at Elgin, vice president; E. M. Smith, then of Weston,
secretary-treasurer. Other directors included Philip H, Dater,
forest service officer of Portland; Roy W. Ritner of Pendleton; L. C.
Scharpf, then a Pendleton banker; A. F. Alexander, then editor of the
Up-to-the-Times magazine, Walla Walla; H. A. Barrett
of Athena; H. 0. Hales of Adams; H. S. Murray of Freewater; R. T. Bean of
Freewater; F. H. Moes of Helix, Charles L. May of Weston mountain; S. A.
Barnes of Weston; H. M. Cockburn and S. A. Miller of Milton; F. D. McCully
of Joseph; L. Couch of Wallula; and judge U. G. Couch of La Grande. E.
M. Smith was the first elected secretary, being cashier of the bank at
Weston at the time. When he moved to The Dalles duties of secretary were
taken over by C. W. Avery, now dead. Thereafter the papers fell into the
hands of S. A. Barnes, Weston, who now has them. This Program compliments of The Union-Bulletin, Walla Walla
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WESTON-ELGIN
HIGHWAY CELEBRATION Sponsored by the principal towns and cities in the
Wallowa and Grande Ronde Valleys and in the Walla Walla Valley, the
Tollgate Celebration fittingly commemorates the vision and efforts of
those, who made this important new road possible. CELEBRATION OFFICIALS AND
COMMITTEES Officers ROY
W. RITNER, Pendleton ---------------------------------Chairman Executive Committee Program |
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PROGRAM Forenoon, beginning at 10:30 Introduction of B. M. Huntington, Master of
Ceremonies, Star
Spangled Banner ........... Audience
and Twin Cities Band History
of Roads and Trails Across the Blue Mountains in Noon-day
Concert .......... Twin Cities Band, Milton-Freewater Afternoon, beginning at 1:30 Vocal Solo
_____________________________________Mr. Ted Roy, Pendleton
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The
Alexander memorial at Tollgate was accepted in all respects last week.
Above is a close-up of the memorial plaque to which (in lower picture) S.A.
Barnes is pointing for the benefit of Clark Wood. Both are
Westonites, and have been intimately associated with promotion of the
Elgin-Weston highway in all its multiplicity of phases since the day the
late A.F. Alexander first gave vocal expression of his dream road.
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| Thanks to the Frazier Farmstead Museum for the information from their files. Photo of plaque and memorial reproduced from news article, possibly from the Union-Bulletin, Walla Walla July 16, 1939. |
