DAY 16 -- YELLOWSTONE TRIP 1926

August 11, 1926 -- Wednesday

Just like Charlie of the M.T.A. song, I wonder if the family will ever return. I also sing “the tale of the castaways,” the theme song from Gilligan’s Island where a two-hour cruise turned into a nightmare. It appears that Ina has had enough of traveling and camping and is ready to be home. 

I have no information regarding this day in 1926 as the family travels through Washington and Idaho to reach home. All that remains among the memorabilia is a photo of Shirley at Spangle, Washington, which more or less indicates that they camped near there (18 miles south of Spokane), and I think it’s doubtful that they made it home in one day. Hopefully, they arrived on August 13 (Friday).

And I know nothing about their homecoming. Did Myrtle and Ethel prepare the desired nutritious homecoming dinner? They probably lacked up-to-date information from the travelers and likely worried. Perhaps Ina insisted on sending a telegram from Spokane, and that would have reassured the girls, but the timetable would still be uncertain due to unforeseen circumstances on the road.

But – I can pretend. I can see Myrtle rising early to bake a cake while Ethel went to the garden to pick tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, and lettuce. They also scurried around to tidy up, air the house, and hide the cigarettes and ashtrays.

I do know that the travelers made it home, though, because they went on to live out their lives for a good many years – all of them. Jack was first to pass on – 1946; Ina – 1957; Bernice – 1958; Lynn Dryden – 1963; Myrtle – 1971; Earle – 1975; Ethel – 1980; Vance – 1987; and Shirley – 2004. 

That’s all, Folks! Thanks for celebrating the 1926 Road Trip to Yellowstone with me. KW 

DAY 15 -- YELLOWSTONE TRIP 1926

 August 10, Missoula, MT

In her final postcard, Ina writes: We didn’t leave Anaconda until 12:30 P.M. Ate our lunch there and drove 117 miles. It was windy and cold, and we were in one hard shower. It has been cold ever since we left the Park. We wear our coats and sweaters and put the curtains on. We are trying to make it as far as Coeur d’Alene today. Spokane is over 200 miles away. We won’t get home till Thursday. I’m just wild when I stop to think of it. Hope we don’t have any more car trouble. In haste. Love, Momma

Vance plays with a dog

[Today, Interstate 90, a fast-moving four-lane highway, connects the 200 miles between Spokane and Missoula, but in 1926 it was an unpaved dirt and gravel trail. Ina hoped they would make it to Coeur d’Alene, but even that would have been ambitious. I know from the picture of Vance that they camped near Kellogg, Idaho, which means they traveled about 130 miles this day.]

 

DAY 14 -- YELLOWSTONE TRIP 1926

[Ina writes another postcard to her daughters, Myrtle and Ethel, at the farmhouse. On a practical level, it's silly to keep writing these postcards because even with delays, they won't be delivered until after the travelers arrive, but today I'm glad she did and that she had the foresight to keep them. It could only be better if she had continued a journal.]

August 9 [Monday] – at Anaconda, Montana – 9:35 A.M.

Graham & Cora Wanless in 1937

We made about 190 miles yesterday. We were in two hard showers. At Bozeman, we were one day late for their round-up. The town was finely decorated with bunting and flags. Lynn had to have a flat tire vulcanized, so we are delayed again. I’m getting frantic [to be home] on account of Cora and Graham and how you are getting along. Love, Momma

[Cora Dobson Wanless was Jack’s younger sister. Ina must expect Cora and her husband Graham to visit from Boston Bar, BC, Canada.]

DAY 13 -- YELLOWSTONE TRIP 1926

August 8 (Sunday), 9:20 A.M. – Livingston, MT

Dear Girls,

We checked out at the north entrance at Gardiner yesterday at 5:00 P.M. and drove 23 miles. Camped on a creek with fine big cottonwood trees. Driving along Yellowstone River. Road rough. Can’t say what day we will arrive. May phone or telegraph from Spokane. Weather cloudy and quite cool. We are very anxious to get home. Planned to be home sooner. Please have plenty of vegetables cooked for our first meal and a big cake, canned or fresh fruit. If handy, chicken. Love, Momma

[So, they are traveling home by way of Montana instead of retracing the route through Idaho. However, 1926 is decades prior to the opening of Highway 12 connecting Montana with central Idaho. Instead, their route will take them to Missoula and across the Idaho panhandle through Coeur d’Alene and on to Spokane before they can travel south into the remote area of central Idaho where home is located – a long and arduous journey. 

Frankly, I feel for Ina. Seeing the wonders of Yellowstone was interesting and educational, but I know she, Bernice, and Shirley had "down time" while they waited as the men fished. And now Ina is hungry for a decent nutritious meal. KW]

DAY 12 -- YELLOWSTONE TRIP 1926

 

AUGUST 7 -- YELLOWSTONE, THEN AND NOW

[I have no postcards from this day, but they apparently left Yellowstone at 5:00 p.m. on this date, as revealed in tomorrow’s postcard.

It looks like the family had so much fun touring Yellowstone National Park and the Jackson Lake area, but I see the downside, and today a visit to the Park is a very different experience. I asked AI to give me a comparison. Read on:]

My aunts -- Bernice and Shirley

It is easy to look at old photos from the 1920s and feel like early tourists had a more magical, unfettered experience. Visitors back then could walk right up to the edge of active geysers, feed black bears directly from their car windows, and explore the wilderness without crowds, boardwalks, or reservation systems. From a perspective of pure, lawless novelty, it certainly looked like a thrilling vacation. However, historians and park rangers point out that this unfiltered freedom came with severe, often hidden consequences that would shock a modern traveler.

The Chaotic Reality of 1920s Tourism

• Severe Safety Hazards: Without boardwalks or guardrails, early visitors frequently suffered severe, sometimes fatal burns from stepping through the fragile thermal crust into boiling acidic water.
• Violent Wildlife Encounters: Encouraging bears to feed on human food and garbage caused massive spikes in injuries. Dozens of tourists were hospitalized every year from bear bites and maulings, and the animals suffered from poor health and shortened lifespans.
• Widespread Destruction: Early tourists routinely threw logs, rocks, and trash into geysers to force eruptions. This permanently choked off the plumbing of several unique thermal features, destroying them for future generations.
• Ruined Landscapes: Soap and laundry detergent were regularly dumped into pristine pools like Morning Glory to change their surface tension and trigger bubbles, which accelerated the growth of damaging bacteria and altered their brilliant colors forever.

Why Today's Experience Offers a Different Kind of Value

While modern rules can feel restrictive, they were enacted to save the park from being loved to death. Today's visitors trade the chaotic, destructive freedom of the 1920s for a different set of benefits:

• Ecological Health: Thanks to strict management, Yellowstone is the only place in the lower 48 states that still retains all of its medium-to-large wild mammal species that existed before European settlement.
• True Wild Behavior: Instead of watching a garbage-fed bear beg for scraps by the roadside, modern tourists get to witness apex predators hunting, foraging, and raising their cubs in a completely wild, natural ecosystem.
• Preservation: The boardwalks ensure that the vibrant thermal pools and delicate microbial mats look exactly the same for you as they will for visitors a century from now.

Early tourists certainly had a wilder, more unscripted adventure, but modern visitors get to experience a healthier, more authentic ecosystem that has a chance of surviving into the future. [End AI]

[As a final word from me, the fact is that you must do your homework before visiting Yellowstone – or any national park, for that matter. You can’t do it your way. You have to know the rules. Tent camping -- actually "roughing it" -- is a thing of the past. You have to have a metal-sided camper and keep your food within secure metal boxes. And you must have a reservation for overnight stay.

A friend once said, "A seer of sights I am not." I agree. And to this I can add, "Been there; done that." The crowds can have it. KW]

DAY 11 -- YELLOWSTONE TRIP 1926

[It’s Friday, August 6, 1926. I am concerned that our family should be starting for home. It took them five days to get to Yellowstone, and it will take every bit of that to get home. So, what’s the hold up? Apparently the men are determined to fish, and yet they catch next to nothing.]

Ina wrote this postcard on August 6:

Dear Girls, We are camped on the Yellowstone almost nine miles above the falls and Grand Canyon. The men have gone fishing – crazy – but we’ll have to begin to hurry home. Each has caught a fine trout except Vance. They went off about 5 this A.M. in Lynn’s car to fish. Yesterday they tried it in the lake and river on Fishing Bridge but no luck, so we went on to Grand Canyon. I use only superlatives here to describe Upper and Lower Falls. Then we drove back about nine miles so they could fish. Lovely camp. Only two other parties here. A bear came into camp about 4:30 this A.M. and got the men up. He was turning over pots and pans. The girls are still sleeping, but I find it hard to do in more ways than one so got up and built a fire.

 

[Ina says that Earle took this photo of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone from Inspiration Point. Dad and I didn't go. The road was closed for repairs and it was a two-mile walk, so only the "boys and girls" went.]

Point Lookout and the Lower Falls. Dad, Shirley, Bernice, and I are the people you see in the "log pen" on the point. Earle, Vance and Lynn came on down the rim and shot back from "Grand View."

DAY 10 -- YELLOWSTONE TRIP 1926

CAVORTING WITH BEARS -- August 5

[I read that bear sightings are more common these days as the bears lose habitat to fires and seek to find relief from the heat. In fact, as Mike and I drove up the Gilbert Grade on Saturday, a black bear lumbered across the road right in front of us. This is the first time we’ve seen a bear on the grade, though we see them in this region from time to time.]

Postcard: At Fishing Bridge Camp

Ina feeding cookies to a 2-year-old "brown bear"

We left Jackson Lake camp after lunch yesterday and made this camp among the trees. Saw a bear in camp standing up being fed. Mother bear and cub in camp this A.M. The next move is to backtrack five miles and see Natural Bridge and Knotted Pines. Then on to Grand Canyon [of the Yellowstone]. We are getting awfully dirty. Bernice says the nighties will get up and walk off with a blanket on each arm. Getting hungry for home cooking. 

Shirley & the brown bear

[Have you watched Hazardous History with Henry Winkler? This trip to Yellowstone in 1926 qualifies as “hazardous.” Never mind that the cars were anything but reliable and safe, did you see how close they stood to Old Faithful on Day 8? It’s not allowed today. And here we see them actually holding out treats for the bears to snatch. And Ina thinks it’s such fun!!! I’m surprised the bear didn’t swat her.

Here’s an overview regarding the evolution of the attitude toward bears at Yellowstone provided by Google:

“In the 1920s, bears at Yellowstone National Park were not widely viewed as lethal or terrifying apex predators but rather as entertaining, anthropomorphized attractions. Park management actively encouraged tourists to feed black bears and view nightly garbage-dump spectacles, treating minor bites and scratches as a fun ‘souvenir’ rather than a severe safety hazard. Despite the lighthearted public relations, both black bears and grizzlies remained powerful wild animals, and serious or fatal attacks did occasionally happen at feeding sites. The casual attitude toward bear safety eventually led to severe habituation and rising conflict. The National Park Service phased out the dumps and officially banned feeding by 1970.”

Aunt Bernice & the "brown bear"

In the mid-1950s, when I was about five years old, I went with my parents to visit Uncle Earle and Aunt Bernice in Idaho Falls. (Uncle Earle taught junior high manual arts and mathematics there for thirty years.) Uncle Earle drove us to Yellowstone Park, and I remember that we sat in a long line of cars on the road as the bears came along looking for handouts. Uncle Earle had brought a bag of candy, and as the bear approached our car, I tried to put one in its mouth. Alarmed, my dad was rolling up the window as fast as he could. KW] 

DAY 9 -- YELLOWSTONE TRIP 1926

A colorized postcard view of Yellowstone Lake from the 1920s

 August 4, 1926

At Leek’s Camp at Jackson Lake. We plan to go back through S.E. entrance to Yellowstone Camp and on to Lake Camp, still on Yellowstone Lake.

[Ina completed her journal and apparently mailed it home. She didn’t begin another letter, so now the information about the trip is sketchy, mostly from postcards and the backs of pictures. They left Jackson Lake and went back to Yellowstone Park where they camped and did more sight-seeing. I’ll include here Ina’s “Wayside Notes,” indicating what worked.]

INA’S WAYSIDE NOTES

·      The tent is priceless, far above rubies. The feather beds are very comforting. Glad we brought ‘em along.

·      Shirley’s vanity case is the handiest thing on the works and the little Vaseline can in constant demand.

·      The little suitcase is next in the honor roll, holding all the little indispensables of our toilets.

·      The box which started out to hold fry pans and buckets was commandeered the second A.M. to ride the running board to hold extra wraps and parcels. Our backseat was much more comfortable ever after.

·      I soon found I could pin my hat onto the wide cloth band in corner of car cover, so I don’t wear it much.

·      At the desert station called Yale, Shirley put her black tie around my head, and I’ve been more respectable ever since.

DAY 8 -- YELLOWSTONE TRIP 1926

 

A colorized postcard photo of Jackson Lake

August 3, 1926

[Several pages of Ina's letter journal blew away, so she reconstructs the best she can. The timeline becomes blurred, but the stories continue.]

From a postcard: "A bear came into camp last night and ate at table. We had lots of fun. This morning, a mother bear and cubs came into camp and we got pictures. Weather fine."

[Ina completes her journal with the following entry:] 

We left the loop we were taking around the Park and came 23 miles through the south entrance and on to Jackson Lake in the Jackson Hole country. Very fine scenery with the Tetons looming across the lake. We came through level valleys surrounded by beautifully wooded mountains and along lovely creeks. We went to Moran, opposite Mt. Moran, and here the Snake flows out of Jackson Lake, and there is a big dam. There was a little store full of furs, all made, and heads and skins of animals decorated the walls, also chairs made of elk bones. But the chance to fish was poor, so we got bread, eggs, etc., and came back several nights to this beautiful camp on the lake.

The men got a boat but caught no fish. Dad, who fished along the bank, caught four copper bellies which are poor eating. [These were likely Utah Chubs, bony bottom feeders that she called copper bellies because of their coloring.]

This is our most beautiful camp so far, among little poplars and lodgepole pines, on a gentle slope overlooking the lake with small poplars and sage scattered over it. I had a big sage fire last night.

Now my diary letter is up to date. The men got up early and went fishing along the shore. Earle got one lake trout, their only luck. They came back for a hasty breakfast and went again in the boat, We did up dishes and aired our bedding, which it badly needed.

[On the morning of August 3, Shirley wrote the following postcard from “Jackson Lake Camp”:] I’m going to start right off by asking one of you to phone to Aunt Ida and ask her to buy that green hat for me. We’re camped near Jackson Lake and have a splendid view of the Tetons. Words can’t express their wild, rugged beauty. We’re having a sagebrush fire tonight. We’ll start back around the Grand Loop in the Park tomorrow.

DAY 7 -- YELLOWSTONE TRIP 1926

 

Shirley Dobson, Bernice Dryden Dobson, and Lynn Dryden at Old Faithful Geyser

August 2 -- 

Ina notes on the back of the above photo: Vance took this picture of Old Faithful Geyser and got scalded on his face and arms when a light breeze blew the steam on him. He felt the effects the rest of the day. Old Faithful erupts every 60 to 70 minutes, throwing a column of water two feet in diameter from 120 to 170 feet and maintaining it for three minutes. Bernice, Lynn, and Shirley look like they are ready to dodge.

A geyser near Old Faithful

On the morning of August 2, Vance wrote a postcard to his sisters at the farmhouse: We’re at Old Faithful Camp and are just packing to leave. The geysers are wonderful and will see a few more today. The bears didn’t eat Dad, contrary to all expectations. We expect to camp at West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake and go on to the Tetons tomorrow. I hope the fences are standing up.

Old Faithful Inn -- "about 30 rods from the geyser"

And Ina also wrote to the daughters at home: We saw wonders yesterday afternoon and this morning. We went through the Old Faithful Inn. Weather looks stormy. We saw the bears eating and one came almost into camp this A.M. We are having a fine time. Wonderful campground. Got pictures. Love, Momma

On the back of the photo of Old Faithful Inn, Ina quotes from the Haynes' Guidebook: "the most extensive log structure yet devised by man." At the center it's eight stories high.

The above photo is Jupiter Terrace, part of the Mammoth Hot Springs. It's more imposing but not so beautiful as Angel Terrace and not far from it. 

DAY 6 -- YELLOWSTONE TRIP 1926

 

From the Haynes Guide, 1926

August 1, 1926 (Sunday)

On this date, Shirley wrote a postcard from Pond’s Resort, about 40 miles from Yellowstone: We’re just about ready to leave for the Park. It was surely cold last night. We’re getting up so much higher. We had a tire tube fixed in Idaho Falls yesterday morning, and it was nearly 9:30 when we left. Then we didn’t drive as fast as we had before. We sidetracked about an hour and went to see the great Snake River Falls, but it was well worth it. It was wonderful and picturesque. I must stop for lack of room. Wish you were here. I’m surely missing you, Shirley Jean. Love, Shirley

Ina continues: We decided to sleep in a little so got up at 5:30 and were away for the great entrance to the Park.

Western Entrance to Yellowstone National Park

I must tell you a joke on us. We were all looking for Fountain Geyser, which was on our first right. We saw a sign called Fountain Road and turned off within parking of a nearby ranger station. When we came to a small mound and saw steam, we decided it was Fountain Geyser, but Lynn and Earl were well ahead of us, so we chased after them, frantically blowing our horn. I think we chased them at least a mile. Then we all came back to the “geyser.” We tried to get Earle and Lynn to take the car back to the ranger station a quarter of a mile away to ask what time the geyser would erupt, but they wouldn’t, so Shirley and Bernice went and came back laughing. It wasn’t Fountain Geyser at all – only a hot pool.

Mammoth Hot Springs Terrace, postcard

Our drive from here on into the Lower Basin was filled with wonders. Fountain Geyser was a gorgeous pool of hot water a beautiful blue and another of wondrous green and smaller ones around of various shades of blue, green, orange shading to brown, pink, lavender, gray, mauve. It is simply indescribable.

Excelsior Geyser, taken by Vance

This P.M. we saw Excelsior Geyser, Turquoise Pool, and Prismatic Lake, all close together. Turquoise Pool was a heavenly blue such as I’ve never seen before. It’s about 30 feet across. Excelsior Geyser was in a pit with walls, say 25 feet high. It was as big as the house yard, I’d say, and a deep blue and boiling and splashing up in different places. It was shaded to different tints at edge and flowed down over a many-colored bluff into the Firehole River. Prismatic Lake had so many colors – blue, green, gold, orange, bronze, brown, pinks, lavender, wine. No time for more description.

Mammoth Paint Pots, by Vance

We went on and camped at Old Faithful campground. We saw the geyser spout, got souvenirs, etc. 

[The family purchased a box of 50 colored postcards which have been enjoyed by the generations over the ensuing century. The black and whites are lackluster but serve as a reminder that they were impressed by the beauty of the Park features. I remember my elementary school teachers talking about the wonders of Yellowstone in the 1950s. Do they still talk about it today? Is it still impressive, or have we ruined it?]

DAY 5 -- YELLOWSTONE TRIP 1926

July 31, 1929 (Saturday)

Ina writes:

We passed through Rigby, Lorenzo, Thornton, and Rexburg, a nice small town where they had parking in the middle of the street. Next was St. Anthony’s Falls where we ate lunch. It developed that Earle was feeling pretty bum with summer flu symptoms. We gave him aspirin and got quinine for him. Vance drove.

There was a fine park here at St. Anthony right by the river and falls – free, with things to amuse the children. The cascades were very pretty, and there was a monument to the World War men – a soldier, all equipped, stepping forward. [This was undoubtedly the “doughboy” statue at Veteran Memorial Park in St. Anthony, dedicated May 30, 1923.]

Ashton was our next place of interest. We stocked up there for the Park, but this was unnecessary for there are places right along where supplies are to be had. The scenery began to be much finer from here on. Robinson River and Warm River join at Warm River Station.

We camped this night at Pond’s Resort in the Targhee National Forest. We had a nice camp to ourselves among the lodgepole pines and had much merriment about bears coming into camp. There was a dance at the Pond place and Lynn and Vance dressed up and went and had a good time.

We had a nice broad, shallow river here. Lynn and Vance got a bath, though no swim.

This P.M. we sidetracked to see the big falls on the Snake, a truly wonderful sight, located about 40 miles from Yellowstone Park. Vance took pictures. Dad had gripes [intestinal upset] from something he ate so didn’t take the half mile walk down to where we could see it. There was a large handsome log hunting lodge there not 40 rods from where we stood – rustic and very nice.

Enlargement of photo above

[Both Ina and Shirley mention a detour to view "the great falls on the Snake.” It seems like this should be Shoshone Falls (called the Niagara of the West), located near Twin Falls, but on Day 4, Ina just says, “We came from Twin Falls to Idaho Falls,” with no mention at that point of viewing waterfalls. Did they think the cascade at Pond’s Lodge was “the great Snake River Falls?”

Online research provided the following: “When your family camped at Pond's Lodge in 1926, Charles Pond had just bought the lease to the resort the previous fall. At that time, a short walk down the trail along the river led to a sharp, natural scenic cascade where the water tumbled through the basalt rock. The reason you won't see that exact, wild natural waterfall today is because the river was altered ten years after your family's visit. In 1936, a small concrete hydroelectric dam was built right on top of that cascade.” This seems to fit Ina’s description and the photos.]

DAY 4 – YELLOWSTONE TRIP 1926

 Ina continues her journal, July 30, 1926:

A big car drove in late, and this A.M. we were treated to the spectacle in real life of what we all suffer from in dreams, i.e., two men trying to dress with people all around them. We made a little better time getting off here, but I soon found I had left the little pin you gave me, Ethel, in the toilet. I felt sick, but at the next town (Burley), I wrote back to the caretaker to send it on home. There was only one car left there, a man and woman, so I think she found it all right. [Hmmm. I wish I knew if she got it back.]

We came from Twin Falls to Idaho Falls, 186 miles, passing through Hansen, Murtaugh, and Declo. At Yale, we ate dinner behind the machine shop – rather unpleasant – but it saved time for Earle was having a tube patched. Here Lynn picked up and took along an oldish man who had walked in 8 miles leaving his family and crippled car on the desert road. 

This afternoon, Bernice’s old duster was lost off the running board box. We thought sure that Dad [coming behind in Lynn's car] would see it and pick it up, but later we halted and when he and Lynn came up, he said, “Ha! That’s what we passed back there.” He seemed quite pleased to have identified the object. Well, we were glad that Bernice didn’t care so much.

We went through sage country. Our next place of interest was American Falls, so choked by a gigantic dam as to be spoiled. The great dam was worth seeing but the town most uninteresting. It had been moved some distance from the former site and the trees were all very young.

Pocatello was our next point and is quite a place, but we were not interested. Here Dad and I got tinted glasses. We passed Fort Hall and Blackfoot. It was not so hot. The country was pretty and the roads good, though they are having a lot done to them and Earle got another flat tire. Road work is hard on tires. We passed through Firth, then Shelley, then into Idaho Falls, which is a nice big town.

We were in a public camp at 25 cents per car. There seemed to be hundreds of cars there, but we got off to ourselves where there was no table. A girl came over and told us we could have theirs since they were through, but it was a doubtful comfort for it was too high and small.

After we were in bed, a car rolled in, and the woman said all she wanted was to go to sleep and didn’t care if she ever woke up again. The man said she’d better jump over the falls and get out of her misery. In the A.M., we found three cars had pulled in close to us. The rough man had to hold up a quilt while his wife dressed.

We are still 124 miles from the Park. Having a good time.

[I think Mike and I are truly the reincarnation of Jack and Ina. We've lost cameras, phones, charging cords, a pajama top, a swimsuit, and whole suitcases. On his last motorcycle excursion, Mike lost his iPhone. Recently, Clint found our old Nikon AW100 – misplaced years ago – in our kayak. We lose something with most every trip.]

DAY 3 -- YELLOWSTONE TRIP 1926

 

July 29, 1926

We had the usual breakfast with everybody feeling fine. We were soon in desert country proper looking like old times so much that I begged for two good pictures and got them, I hope. [Well, she got one anyway.]

We saw our first live jack rabbit, but the highway is dotted with dead ones. It got very hot in the P.M. on the desert. We passed through New Plymouth, Middleton, Caldwell, Nampa, Meridian, Boise, Regina, Sunnyside, Cleft, Mountain Home. At Caldwell, Shirley exchanged her glasses for a lavender-tinted pair which she liked better.

Caldwell is in the Boise Valley and nice. Middleton is small. Nampa – fine. The valley was lovely but we seemed to be dodging out occasionally into desert country. In the suburbs of Boise, Earle had to tinker with the car so we ate lunch on the side of the road in the shade of big trees. We had bought some minced ham, relish spread, pork and beans, lettuce and mayonnaise. We passed through Boise about noon and managed to see the capital building. Boise is beautiful with wide streets and shade trees.

We drove out at 12:20 and were in for our hottest P.M. Finally we came to Sunnyside – a service station and small store. We went in and drank some kind of bottled cool drink which was very refreshing, but we looked nothing like the ads you see of people drinking Coca Cola. [In 1926, Coke's tagline was "refresh yourself."]

I found I could pin my duster to the frame so as to shut out the sun pretty well, but oh, Girls! My hair!!! I tried to keep it on by wrapping with auto veil but the veil would slip off and hair go all directions. Well, the heat was fierce, but we grimly endured and presently came to Mountain Home. We passed through Cleft, but it was too small to notice. Mountain Home was a nice little place, and here we decided to come by Pocatello instead of the shorter, harder route. We passed through Hammett, but I have no recollection of it.

The next place was Glenns Ferry. Here dad purchased the hamburger which proved bad and forgot the butter.

This P.M., we passed what is called the Thousand Springs Ranch on the Snake. From a bluff across the river numerous waterfalls descended apparently coming out of a rimrock. We were not on the desert all P.M. but occasionally dropped into the river valley. Then it was nice – big trees and green fields.

We passed through Bliss, Hagerman, and Buhl and then began to watch for Twin Falls. Here we had our first experience of auto camps – a little kitchen with oil range, good toilets, even a tub and clothesline. There were shade trees, too. We boiled potatoes and expected a feed, but the sausage was bad, no butter, and Lynn didn’t like boiled potatoes, so we were sort of grouchy but got to laughing and I thought of the corned beef hash and insisted on Lynn finishing the relish spread. Dad had bought doughnuts and so with tea and jam, we made out. I found a cinnamon roll in a bag and was voted lucky.

After supper, the menfolk all went to hunt a bath and swim and ice cream, and the girls took the chance to write in the little cookhouse. When the men came back, they were minus the bath and swim but had ice cream and cookies. We ate it out of cups and were the worse for doing so. Then we collected wash pans, etc., and went to the toilet room for a sketchy sponge bath and after that we bathed our underwear and hose and hung them on the tent ropes and benches.

We made 200 miles this day – mostly desert country but part of the time through the Boise valley and along the Snake River. It was awfully hot. We made 25 to 50 miles per hour. We ate lunch in the suburbs of Boise.

DAY 2 -- YELLOWSTONE TRIP

From left: Shirley, Bernice, Earle, Jack, and Ina. Photo by Vance

July 28, 1926 -- Ina continues:

We had one hilarious time arranging our beds last night. From the front of the tent, we were Lynn, Vance, Earle, Bernice, Shirley, and self. Dad slept on a cot. We soon found we had too much covers, and first one and then another sat up to make adjustments. We were not quiet before 11:30. Then a dog came along and growled over a bone, then two dogs started fighting. Shirley began to snore, then Lynn started off, and Bernice began to giggle. The bed was hard with a gentle rise just where our hips came, and we thought the night endless, but all felt quite good on rising at 4:30. 

Vance took a picture of the sun touching the hill and one of us at breakfast. We had bacon, eggs, toast, coffee, jelly, and Himalayan jam.

We got off at 7:45. Until a few miles past Pollock, we had the old road. Then we found them working on the highway.

We struck the Little Salmon at Riggins. It was very beautiful, growing more wooded and picturesque toward the summit and broadening into meadows which looked to me nearly ½ mile wide in places. The river curved and flowed slowly and with low wooded mountains surrounding was wonderfully beautiful. We were surprised to find little ranches in pockets along the river or on benches. Some looked dreadfully burned out, while some had irrigating ditches and gardens. We passed a place or two with lovely green lawns!

Just before reaching New Meadows, we passed a beautiful field of grain being cut. They seem to raise hay mostly. New Meadows is small but up and coming in quite a large valley. In fact, from there, the landscape began to be southern Idaho. A distant range of timbered mountains made it seem more natural.

We didn’t strike any more surfaced highway until after we left Cambridge, but the roads are wide and smooth and look almost as though surfaced. The country is rough and sagebrushy. I got out and got some and will put in a piece of the leaves for you to smell.

It was awful hot at Cambridge and the country round depressing. Our next town was Midvale – small. Then on to Weiser, which is a nice town, but we couldn’t get lettuce there and no hamburger, which caused us to be disgruntly. We ate lunch 1000 feet from the Starky Hot Springs Hotel – bread, butter, cheese, jam, cookies, hardtack.

Continuing on, we passed through Payette. We had our first glimpse of the Snake River near here. We pulled in on the Payette River to camp but found poison oak, flies, and mosquitoes so pulled out again and drove 4 ½ miles beyond Fruitland and camped at a farm where they had things to sell. It was a free camp and they even allowed us to drive in on the nice lawn but we wouldn’t. We pitched the tent there, though, and made us a fine bed. Everybody was grouchy over our trouble finding a camp, but we had a good supper of fried potatoes, bacon, bread and butter, tea, fresh tomatoes, and cantaloupe. When supper was nearly ready, a kitten walked onto the table and dragged off two slices of bread. We all laughed, but Earle said we wouldn't be laughing tomorrow night.

After supper we all felt better. Earle and I then made the beds. Right here, let me say that Earle and Lynn are official packers, unpackers, tent pitchers and strikers. Dad is the official fire builder and water getter. Vance officiates at fire, Bernice at dishwashing, and Shirley sets table and packs up grocery box, grub box, and lunch box. I am majordomo by common, though unexpressed, consent. Of course, we all work at other things.

We are 53 miles from Boise and 500 miles from Yellowstone Park.

[At Cambridge, Ina reports that Vance said it was “hotter than hot.” I think Vance likely made a stronger comparison, don’t you?]  KW

DAY 1 – YELLOWSTONE TRIP

Car on left is Lynn's; car on right, Earle's.

In 2008, when I was fairly new to blogging, I posted a 20-part series regarding Ina’s trip to Yellowstone National Park in 1926. In this centennial year, I decided to expand on those posts. Some will be quite long, others rather short.

As always, my main character is my grandmother, Ina. She kept a travel journal, so the words are mostly hers. However, other voices chime in from time to time. Born in 1870, Ina was 55 in 1926 and already old-fashioned for the times. It comes out in her manner of speaking.

Our travelers had barely left home when Ina began to write a journal in the form of a letter to daughters Ethel and Myrtle at the farmhouse.

Dear Girls,

Shall write my first to you while Earle and the boys mend a flat tire. We stopped to gaze at some wonderful bluffs, and Earle discovered a flat and a nail hole. To begin, you must understand our keen delight in being off for Yellowstone. The breeze was coldly keen, and Vance soon pulled on a sweater and Bernice pulled up her collar.

Salmon River Hill -- photo by Vance

We noted that at least half the fall grain was in the shock or being shocked. We saw a threshing machine this side of Russell and several combines closer to Nezperce. The grain looks wonderful. Just at the Catholic Church, Earle stopped because the engine began to sputter but only for a minute. Then we proceeded on to Nezperce. We put in 35 minutes there. Bernice got a dandy pair of lined britches in brown mixture ($3.00). Dad got two new shirts and a pair of regular pants ($2.00), but he had to take blue in shirts. We couldn’t get lettuce so got bananas. I got this tablet and 10 cents worth of gum.

View from summit, White Bird Hill, N&S Hwy (postcard)

The engine “bogged” to Craigmont. Then Earle got it looked after, and we were there nearly an hour. We were all starving by that time and drove out for a ways and stopped where some big locust trees hung out over the road. We set the box on a bank and proceeded to fill up. Everybody enjoyed the creamed cheese and noted that the salad dressing was fine. We got two big heads of lettuce in Cottonwood but also ate the corned beef hash and thought it good. But oh – the flies were terrible! We were near a barnyard and some nice young dominicks came out to eat our crumbs.

Box Canyon, Salmon River, N&S Hwy (postcard)

We got to Grangeville in due time and left there at 2:00 p.m. We got paper towels and some postcard views. We soon crossed the mountain and dropped down into the Salmon River canyon – 3,000 feet in 12 miles. The highway is very scenic, a good deal like Lewiston and Uniontown, but the canyon itself is magnificent. The river is beautiful – green mostly. White Bird is 18 miles from Grangeville – a dilapidated little town. From there to New Meadows is 72 miles and the road is fine though not graveled.

Salmon River Hills, photo by Vance

We are all feeling fine. It was pretty hot for a while along this rim, but a cool wind is blowing now. I’m getting hungry. We thought we would make Cambridge, but Dad says we will more likely make Pollock. We see many cars loaded much as ours are. I have already thought of many ways to shift the load and contrive more convenience.

Had a blow-out after this and had to camp at Riggins. Had lots of fun. Made 127 miles. For supper we had fried potatoes, bacon, coffee, and the remains of our butter and strawberry jelly.

GETTING READY TO TRAVEL – YELLOWSTONE 1926

Taken at the farmhouse in 1925. See identification below.

Imagine it’s late July in 1926 – one hundred years ago. My dad, Vance Dobson, an accomplished pianist, is working at the Orofino Mercantile to earn enough money to enroll at the Cornish School of Music in Seattle. His family is planning a trip to Yellowstone National Park, and he wants to go, too. His employer agrees that this is an opportunity he shouldn’t miss and excuses him from work.

They will take two cars. One belongs to Vance’s brother Earle, the other to Earle’s brother-in-law, Lynn Dryden. The party includes:

·      The parents – Ina (55) and Jack (61) Dobson

·      Their son Earle (30) and his wife Bernice (26), married since 1921

·      The younger children, Vance (22) and Shirley (15)

·      And Lynn Dryden (Bernice’s brother), probably in his 30s

I suspect this trip happened at Earle’s suggestion. He had a car, and he would have been familiar with the route. He involved his brother-in-law, Lynn Dryden, who also had a car. One car would not have been big enough. They loaded Lynn’s car with provision, and “Dad” (Jack) rode with him most of the time. Earle carried everyone else and some provisions.

You can imagine the hustle and bustle as they prepare for the trip. They plan to camp and buy provisions along the way. No coolers in 1926, remember. They have a tent, bedding, and food besides personal items. By today’s standards, the plan leaves much to chance, but that’s the way it was. Ina is excited to visit Yellowstone as well as to see the sights as they travel through Idaho between here and there.

Staying at the farmhouse are the Dobson daughters, Myrtle and Ethel. Ethel’s baby, Shirley Jean, is now a toddler (born June 29, 1925).

We’ll be off in the morning, so let’s get some rest. KW

[Taken in1925, this photo includes most of our players. From left: Earle Dobson; Shirley Dobson; Bernice Dryden Dobson (Earle's wife); Vance Dobson; Pearl Dobson Sanders with her son, Stanley Sanders; Ina Dickson Dobson; Ernest Robinson; Ethel Dobson Robinson holding Shirley Jean Robinson. Between Shirley and Bernice, I can just make out Julian (Jack) Dobson. Three of these group photos were taken at this time, and the reflection of the sun on the house obscures the image of those standing on the left.] 

A STAYCATION AT THE FARM

Central Ridge

 I said that the centennial appreciation of the Dobson’s 1926 trip to Yellowstone would be next, but first, we have to prepare. We’ll set off on this journey on Monday, July 27, and hopefully I’ll be ready to go. Right now I’m organizing the info.

Southerly view obscured by smoke

Meanwhile, in real time, Mike is off on another motorcycle adventure, and since we’re now in the midst of the hottest temps of the year, he suggested that Bess and I stay at the farm. I’m not sure this was the best idea. We arrived Wednesday mid-morning, and the farmhouse was warm and stuffy, having been shut up for three days. Outside temp was already 80, so too late to open the house. We walked around the pond anyway and I chucked a few balls for Bess to chase, but she was fussy the rest of the day. She tends to fuss now anyway, but I think she was too hot.

Looking to the north -- serviceberry in foreground

It was 91 at 4:30 as we took our afternoon constitutional. Bess insisted on another walk at the pond, but as we passed the east end of the kitchen porch where the faucet is, we found a bull snake doing its best rattlesnake impression. I wasn’t fooled, but I was intimidated anyway, and Bess was spoiling for a fight. I managed to drag her off to the pond, but when we arrived back at the house, the bull snake was still languishing in the shade. We repaired to the house and waited an hour before playing ball.

The house was still hot at bedtime, and Bess had trouble settling down. At her insistence, we were up early Thursday morning and walked out to the canyon rim where I took these pictures.

Ina and Jack with grandchildren Shirley Jean and Stanley

Our staycation continued in that fashion – warm weather issues and a fussy old dog. So, I disappeared into 1926 and transcribed Ina’s journey of the road trip through Idaho to Yellowstone National Park. At this very house, the family of 1926 was preparing for their trip. My aunts, Ethel and Myrtle, will cover in Ina’s absence. I imagine that I’m here staycating with them. Ethel is 28 and Lynn is 32. They’re good friends as well as sisters, so with the house to themselves, I see them enjoy each other’s company. I can just hear those deep Dobson voices rambling on, sharing opinions – and smoking!!!! They both smoked, and they were probably happy to be able to do so free of Ina’s critical eye.

Ethel holding Shirley Jean

Anyway, Ina trusted them with her farm responsibilities, and having been raised on the farm, they were adept at their chores. They fed the chickens, milked the cows – or maybe Uncle June came over and milked the cows – and took care of the garden, which by now was producing well. Perhaps they even did some canning. And besides that, Ethel has a baby – Shirley Jean – who is just months old. What fun! KW