Bonneville Salt Flats...Wendover, Utah

DATE:  October 5, 2015

HISTORICAL SITE:  Bonneville Salt Flats & Speedway

LOCATION:  Wendover, Toole Co., Utah

MARKER #:  75001826

DEDICATED:  December 18, 1975

“The salt flats were formed as ancient Lake Bonneville slowly evaporated and deposited concentrations of salt onto this playa. Shorelines carved into the mountainsides are visible to the north along the Silver Island range and extend to the Salt Lake Valley. Named after Captain B.L. Bonneville, an early military explorer of the West, the salt flats measure over 44,000 acres and are primarily public land.”

“Historically, the flats have impeded man’s movement westward. Early traders like Jedidiah Smith and John Fremont crossed the vast saline plain only to return with awesome stories of the salt’s harshness. In 1846, the Donner Reed party lost animals, wagons and valuable time on the salt. These losses contributed to their late arrival and subsequent disaster in the snowy Sierra-Nevada Mountains. The flats’ potential for racing was first recognized in 1896 by W.D. Rishel, attempted to organize a carriage and bike race. He convinced Ferg Johnson to test drive his Packard here in 1911. In 1914, Teddy Tetzlaff reached 141 mph in his Blitzen Benz. Succeeding years saw many attempts to set faster records. In 1940 Ab Jenkins set 81 new speed records in his Mormon Meteor III, including a 24-hour endurance record of 161 mph. Jet and rocket cars appeared in the 1960’s and exceeded the 500 and 600 mph marks.”

“The speedway, 80 feet wide and 10 miles long, is prepared by the Bureau of Land Management in the early summer. Speed trials are scheduled throughout the summer and fall. They end when the rains cover the area with water. Caution: Salt crust may appear firm, but is often moist and unstable. Enjoy the area; please keep it clean.”

MARKER PLACED BY:  U.S. Dept. of the Interior / Bureau of Land Management

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS: 

We had just finished touring the museum at Wendover Airfield and you’re barely back on I-80 when the sign for the salt flats announce you’re almost there. Dirk and I had already discussed passing by and he was leaving the final decision to me. I had already done some research and knew there were no events going on as the last race at the Speedway should have concluded in late September. I swear I was going to pass by when I thought “what the heck, a short stop can’t delay us too much longer”. 

I am so glad we went. There is an other worldly feel and look to the place. When we drove up, there was only 2 other cars there. You get out of the car and just stare at mile after mile of white. Apparently, it had rained not long ago so there was this very thin layer of water sitting on top of the salt. It made for a reflection of the sky that I’m not sure I have seen before. It was almost like looking at a mirror image.

It was very quiet except for the far off sound of traffic to the south on I-80 but soon, you don’t even hear that too much. It’s quiet and it’s shockingly beautiful and we were unprepared for the beauty.

The Salt beds are the result of old Lake Bonneville drying up. The lake existed about 14,000 to 32,000 years ago. This was not a small lake; taking up most of Utah, and parts of Nevada and Idaho. 

It was 20,000 square miles and was deeper than 1,000 feet in some places. The water levels can be seen in the rock surrounding the area.

The level of the lake dropped drastically about 14,500 years ago because of changes in the climate. As it dried up, it no longer had its natural outlets and the remaining water got saltier and saltier. Water retreated into what is now the Great Salt Lake near Salt Lake City, Utah.

Left over was this concentration of salt and minerals…potassium, magnesium, lithium and sodium chloride…common table salt. Each winter a thin layer of water covers the flats and when warmer weather comes, the water evaporates and the wind smooths out the surface. The thickness of the salt can range from one inch to six feet.

Considered one of the flattest places on earth, the curvature of the earth can actually be seen in a certain direction and the 3,000 square miles of salt flats is 35% larger than any other salt bed on earth.

Archaeologists have found evidence of human habitation as far back at 10,000 years ago. Native Indians adapted to life around the salt flats much more than “modern” man.

In 1824, Jim Bridger and other mountain men explored the area. The first recorded crossing was in 1845 by Captain John C. Fremont with scouts Kit Carson and Joe Walker. Joe Walker wrote of the harshness of the area and warned others to not cross the flats on their way west. Temperatures easily reach over 100° in the summer and 0° in the winter.

The next year, Lansford Hastings made the crossing and against the written warning of Joe Walker, Hastings convince immigrants heading west to follow him. Then along comes the Donner-Reed party trying to find a shortcut to California so they use the “Hastings Cutoff”.

With not enough water, they lost several oxen and wagons were abandoned. Their shortcut wasn’t so short and they headed into the Sierra Nevada Mountains late in the year and the rest is history.

The first permanent crossing didn’t happen until 1910 when the Southern Pacific Railroad built tracks through the flats.

Racing started in the early 20^th century and continues to this day. Currently, there are 5 races held on the flats, including ones for motorcycles and to set land speed records. There is some concern the flats are shrinking and the Speedway has seen 2 years of cancellations due to poor conditions. I have to say I could honestly care less about the speedway portion of the Salt Flats existence rather than its geologic history and future.

While Dirk and I were enjoying the beauty of the flats, a guy and his girlfriend from New Hampshire pulled up. She got out and he proceeded to drive out on the watery flats. I watched with some morbid fascination to see if they would get stuck. The guy said not to worry, he had a wench…great, I said, I’ll just pull you out with my CRV? The woman started taking pictures and we left them to their quest.

I don’t know about visiting during the racing season, but I can definitely say if you ever get the chance to go out there when no one is around, you have to do it!

Victory & Lincoln Highways...West Wendover, Nevada

DATE:  October 6, 2015

SITE:  Victory & Lincoln Highways

LOCATION:  West Wendover Blvd., West Wendover, Elko Co., Nevada  89883

There were two plaques placed here. It seems the more significant of the two is for the Victory Highway but I recognized the other much more…the Lincoln Highway.

The plaque for the Victory Highway states…

“The Victory Highway monument is a representation of the earlier county bronze eagle markers of the 1920’s. Original eagle markers were to be located at each county line with a plaque dedicated to the sons and daughters who served their country in World War I, sacrificing their lives for our freedom. Only five original bronze eagles are knows to be in existence, two in Kansas and three in California. The Victory Highway is a near-forgotten relic of the early 20^th century roadways, a path traversed by early auto-pioneers from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans. The road you are standing on today was completed in 1925 and used until the 1940’s. Highway U.S. 40 replaced the Victory Highway to the south, which is now known as Wendover Boulevard. The arch represents the Victory Highway sign, used at the only documented official ceremony opening the Victory Highway. The ceremony took place on June 25, 1925, just east of Wendover on the Bonneville Salt Flats. Officiating were Utah Governor George Dern, Nevada Governor James Scrugham, and Secretary of Agriculture William Jardine.”

“The Victory Highway Association was incorporated in Topeka, Kansas, late in 1921 to locate and mark a transcontinental highway. Victory Highway, dedicated to American Forces who died in World War I, traversed the United States from New York City to San Francisco. In 1925, the Transcontinental route offered a panorama of the mid-section of the country 3,205 miles, this great motorway follows the same course, or one closely parallels, as that of the earliest settlers of the Ohio, Mississippi, and Missouri valleys, crossing 14 states in all. Less than 14 percent or 788 miles of the highway was unimproved.”

“From Salt Lake City, the Victory Highway skirts around Great Salt Lake over the famous Wendover Cutoff. The crossing of the salt flats between Salt Lake City and Wendover on the Utah/Nevada border was costly, involving five years of labor. The remarkable engineering feat bridged what was once a great obstacle to transcontinental motor travel, the Bonneville Salt Flats. This accomplishment blazed a new auto-route across northern Nevada to Reno, parallel to the Lincoln Highway to the south. In the early mid-twenties, only 81 miles of the 371 miles of the Victory Highway across Utah were paved, 107 miles consisted of gravel surfacing, and 183 miles were relatively unimproved. The Victory Highway was designated Route No. 40 by state and federal highway officials shortly after the Wendover Cutoff was completed, and the Victory Highway was used until it was replaced in the 1940’s.”

“An original culvert to the east of this marker still exists today. When a new portion of Highway 40 was constructed in the 1940’s, this section of the Victory Highway, along with the culverts, was left intact. Constructed of stone and galvanized steel, these culverts are a testament to the skills of road engineers and rock masons of the early 19^th century.”

“In 1921, the federal government passed the Federal Highway Act of 1921. A similar act, passed in 1916, provided matching funds to the states for highway construction. Unlike the 1916 act, the 1921 act required the states to identify seven percent of its total mileage as “primary”; only these roads would be eligible for federal funds. In the ten years prior to the 1921 act, the United States went from having one named highway to having an unorganized and confusing system of multiple-named highways. As a result, a numbered highway system was formed to organize the national highways across the United States. In most states, the Lincoln Highway was the obvious choice as a federal road, but there were a few exceptions, the greatest challenge being Utah. Despite numerous reports and heavy lobbying by the Lincoln Highway Association, the federal government selected the Wendover route or “Victory Highway” (Route No. 40) as the federal road across Utah and Nevada.”

The plaque for the Lincoln Highway states…

“In 1912, roads were dirt, bumpy and dusty in dry weather; impassable in wet weather. Asphalt and concrete roads were yet to come. To get from coast-to-coast, it was much easier to take the train. The Lincoln Highway Association conceived the first improved automobile road across the United States of America. Inspired by the Good Roads Movement, the Lincoln Highway ran from Times Square in New York City to Lincoln Park in San Francisco, traversing 14 states; New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and California. This paved the way for the development of a nationwide highway network that is now unsurpassed. As the first automobile road across America, the Lincoln Highway brought great prosperity to hundreds of cities, town and villages along the way. The first officially recorded mileage in 1913 was 3,389 miles; by 1924 the road was improved and realigned, covering only 3,142 miles. A road was “improved” if it was just graded; few even had gravel in the early years of the association. One of the hardest fought realignments took place in the deserts of Utah, west of Sal Lake City. A new route, the Goodyear Cutoff, was surveyed, and prepared for construction by the Lincoln Highway Association. The Utah State government promoted a route directly west of Salt Lake City to Wendover, Nevada, as the route to San Francisco. This course crossed miles of salt desert, which was often submerged under water. The Wendover road, favored by Utah, was part of another named highway, the Victory Highway. Like the Lincoln, it claimed New York and San Francisco as its endpoints. Northern Californians favored the Victory for economic reason; travelers along the Victory would almost certainly end their trips in San Francisco.”

“Lincoln Highway Markers   The association ceased activity at the end of 1927. Its last major activity was to mark the highway not as a route from one destination to another, but as a memorial to President Abraham Lincoln, the roads namesake. On September 1, 1928, thousands of boy scouts fanned out along the highway. At an average of about one monument per mile, 3,000 concrete markers were installed with a small bust of Lincoln and the inscription, “This highway dedicated to Abraham Lincoln” were placed along the road from New York City to San Francisco.”

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS:

I found an old magazine on Google Books from 1922 that the president of the Victory Highway Association had written an article in. Being me, I couldn’t stay with just that article but perused several months’ worth. Interesting reading about many of the roads and the problems, some that were overcome, some just noted while building the road system in the U.S. and it has great pictures. It’s amazing what those first roads were like with some totally impassable at different times of the year. Roads could be paved in some fashion but most were more rudimentary than that. Work on the roads varied too. In some places, there might be one or two “government” workers; while many times locals who wanted roads to go by their town or place of business might get out there and “make” a road.

I liked this line from one of the magazines…”the contrast in roads typifies the contrast in social and economic standing of communities. The roads are the barometers of civilization”

The plan for the Victory Highway was to build a road from New York to San Francisco, using only roads already improved or likely to be improved within a short time frame. As I said before, road quality really varied. While investigating the best route, there was no real decisions to be made going from New York City to St. Charles, Missouri where the road was paved except for a tiny section of gravel road in New Jersey.

The first hurdle to deal with was the sticky mud of Missouri and then Kansas which had little to no paving. Colorado was in good shape with gravel along the route and California had the best roads of all. Although the route picked by the association from the state line to Sacramento was not paved, it was scheduled to be completed in a short timeframe.

The big problems were Utah and Nevada where travel was difficult through the desert and the route was often no more than a track in the sand to follow. For 3 months out of the year, the route in Utah is covered in water for about 40 miles. There were discussions over the best way to get over the salt flats with the idea of a raised road winning out.

This was the first time in history that one state helped another state finance projects. By 1922, cities in Northern California raised $50,000.00 to finance the building of the Wendover Cutoff. Fifteen years later, California also financed part of the highway through Nevada.  Not being shortsighted, California understood what it meant to get tourists to the state.

Numbered highways were introduced in 1926 and The Victory Highway Association continued to promote tourism. With the decline in “named” highways, the Association itself changed its name to U.S. Highway 40 Association.

As for the Lincoln Highway, I was pleased to see the reference to it since I came upon another one of the markers when I was exploring in the Newcastle area near home. Again, it’s interesting how things seen in one place link themselves to other places I visit.

There were huge political arguments over the best route…Victory vs. Lincoln with some of the decisions having to wait for politicians to be defeated or for the weather to finally teach developers a lesson. Some big names threw themselves behind one side or another…the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company gave $75,000 for a cutoff to be built south of Wendover while the city of San Francisco threw their weight into a northern route; that being the Victory Highway.

When the possibility of federal funding came, both plans were to be presented but when the plan was submitted, only the northern route, Victory Highway. Despite protests from the Lincoln Highway group, the U.S. Bureau of Roads approved the northern route and funding was secured.

Today, neither highway in known except as part of history although both roads exist as part of U.S. Route 40.