Reaching the Metolius River country in
the old
days was a challenge. Roads ranged from extremely dusty in summer to
muddy
or snow covered anytime from late fall to spring. Read what The Bend
Bulletin,
July 9, 1913, had to report on the roads to the Metolius River:
"As it is, the old road on the
west side
of Black Butte is the established county road and is very seldom used
owing
to there being quite a heavy grade on that route. The Indian Ford road
is excellent and will be very little expense to keep in repair. There
is
one improvement on this road that is badly needed, that being the
bridging
of Indian ford, as the water is of such depth that it is dangerous for
autos to attempt to cross it. "
The old road on the west side of Black Butte
was a
wagon road that connected with the Santiam Wagon Road near where U.S.
20
and the Camp Sherman Road intersect. Pat Woods, who has been visiting
the
Metolius area each summer since 1918, recollected that the road from
Sisters
to Camp Sherman was gouged by chuckholes and thick with dust, and that
"we dodged between the trees." Added Pat, "Getting to Camp Sherman from
Moro [in Sherman County] was an adventure in itself. We had to
negotiate
the switchbacks on the Crooked River and the steep grades up from the
Deschutes
River. I remember sitting on the floorboards [of the car], bawling and
scared. Even with an early start, it took all day to get from Moro to
Camp
Sherman [about 120 miles]. Weekly reports about the use of this route
were
sent from Grandview country to the The Madras Pioneer. For example, the
issue of June 22,1916, reported:
. . . Lots of traffic through
our part
of the country to the Metolius River and mountains, at present. They
are
going by auto and covered wagons and it seems like the days of old have
returned, for you see trains of pack mules heavily laden. The extreme
heat
of last week having subsided to a cool wave, makes it more pleasant for
travelers.
In September 1927 the Metolius River Market
Road,
a new road that extended from Sisters to the Jefferson County line, was
completed. Previously, travelers heading west from Sisters went south
of
Black Butte Swamp, then turned north and skirted the swamp on the west
in order to get to the Metolius River. Also in 1927, Jefferson County
rebuilt
the old road down past Hansen's Resort, now Lake Creek Lodge. In the
summer
of 1928, the state took over the Metolius River Market Road and made it
part of the Santiam Highway. In 1940 the road to Camp Sherman from the
Santiam Highway was oiled. Today, of course, the road is paved, but
there
are those who can remember when it was one of those red hard-top roads
constructed after World War II, when the Forest Service opened several
cinder pits. The roads were so aesthetic, especially in pine country.
Near
the junction of US 20 and the Camp Sherman Road one can still see
patches
of the old red road, a relic from the time red cinders were mixed in
with
the hot asphalt. |
