Along the Red Trail North Dakota’s most Historic Highway

September 2023 By: Bennett Kubischta

As we drive east from Glen Ullin to New Salem on the Red Trail we get to the intersection of Morton County Roads 139 and 87. Just ahead of us, as we look to the old bridge across the Big Muddy Creek, we see no visual clue that the underpass in this picture ever existed.

When the Northern Pacific Railway was constructing its railroad in the 1870s and 1880s they were using horses and manual labor to build the grade and lay the track. From New Salem they went southwest following a stream until they got to the Big Muddy Creek and then went northwest along that stream.

When the Red Trail was established in the 1910s the road followed the NP line from New Salem to Almont, to Glen Ullin. In the early 1920s, as road building equipment was improving, the North Dakota State Highway Department rerouted the Red Trail straight between New Salem and Gen Ullin.

Collisions between automobiles and trains were a huge issue across the United States in the early 1920s. To improve safety at these locations the federal government and the ND Highway Department undertook measures to eliminate at-grade crossings and construct separated crossings on the main highways across North Dakota. This underpass, which was completed in 1928, was the last at-grade crossing on US 10 west of Bismarck to be eliminated.

After World War II, advances in earth grading equipment allowed the NP to construct a cut-off route directly between New Salem and Glen Ullin. This reduced the mileage between these towns by 9 miles and decreased the travel time between them considerably. The cut-off was opened to traffic in December 1947. The last train on the Almont loop was the North Coast Limited passenger train on December 1^st.

The removal of the underpass and the obliteration of the roadway was done so well that when future generations, such as us, drive through that location we cannot discern what was once there. Goodbye for now. Remember, promoting the Old Red Old Ten promotes our towns, and always take time to talk to the cows.

Bennett Kubischta is the President of the Old Red Old Ten Scenic Byway Committee.

August 2023 By: Bennett Kubischta

Mid-Summer greetings to all. I am Bennett Kubischta, the President of the Old Red Old Ten Scenic Byway and this story renews Old Red Old Ten stories that were written by Delores Klusman prior to her death in 2019.

In 1912, as automobile travel was becoming prevalent, the American Automobile Association hired Anton Westgard to map transcontinental routes across the United States. On June 11^th, Westgard leaves New York City beginning his pathfinding tour. His plan was to make three cross country trips that summer and fall. The first route, which he called the Northwest Trail, went across the northern states to Seattle. With him on this journey was his wife and a driver.

From Seattle he went south to San Francisco, then east back to New York and then west again arriving in Los Angeles on November 25^th. He traveled 12,768 miles in his Pathfinder 40 automobile and averaged 76 miles per day. The Pathfinder averaged 13.5 miles per gallon and used one gallon of oil every 200 miles.

In North Dakota’s west river country Westgard traveled through our Old Red Old Ten towns. He saw our farmers at work. He visited with our business people. And he might of watched a baseball game. When it wasn’t raining, his journey through our country went well. The most difficult portion of his trek across our state was in the Bad Lands.

In 1913 the American Trail Blazing Association started marking Westgard’s Northwest trail with red and white markers and the route was called the Red Trail. And the auto tourists began coming to North Dakota.

Goodbye for now. Remember promoting the Old Red Old Ten promotes our towns, and always take time to talk to the cows.

Bennett Kubischta is the President of the Old Red Old Ten Scenic Byway Committee.