Along the Red Trail . . . North Dakota’s most Historic Highway

February 2024 By: Bennett Kubischta

For over 100 years basketballs have been put up in the air in hopes of going through the hoops in gymnasiums in our Red Trail towns. This season, the Glen Ullin Hebron boys are the top team along the Red Trail. And they recently defeated both teams that were on the Yellowstone Trail. The Bearcats are a strong squad with the potential to get to and do well at the State Tournament.

In 1924 there was one class of basketball in North Dakota. The state was divided into 8 Districts and each District had a tournament to see who would advance to State. New Salem was one of the top teams in District 3. Eddie Keller, one of the top players on that team, was participating in a football scrimmage on the school grounds about a week before the District tournament was to begin. He broke his leg during that scrimmage and was out for the rest of the season. Without Keller, New Salem went into the tournament as an underdog. But, the beat Linton, then Wilton, and advanced to the championship game where they were defeated by Mandan.

Moving ahead twelve years to 1936, here are summaries of contests between schools along the Red Trail. The January 18^th Bismarck Tribune reported that “New Salem’s high-scoring basketball team ran up a 29 – 10 against the Almont prep five…” And over in Glen Ullin “Paced by Fischer, center, and Hermes, guard, the Glen Ullin prep quint trounced Richardton 32 – 16.”

On February 11^th of ’36, in a game played at Almont, Hebron defeated the locals 19 – 14.

Hebron was one of the top teams in the Missouri Slope Conference at that time. The Mandan Pioneer’s game report stated that “Almont displayed unexpected strength and under the lead of Atkinson held the margin up to the third quarter. A Hebron rally led by Mann stowed away enough points for a Hebron victory.

On February 20, 1936 the Taylor independents defeated the Gladstone independents 38 to 23 at the gym in Taylor. Leading scorer for Taylor, with 13 points was guard J. Teie. Forward P. Degel led the way for Gladstone with 9 points.

North Dakota high schools had girls were playing basketball in the 1920s. Their games were played as preliminary games before the boys played and few game reports were published in newspapers I have reviewed. As part of a well-advertised doubleheader the Glen Ullin girls played the Mandan girls on March 1, 1924 in the Mandan High School gymnasium. The other game was a boy’s game between Mandan and Jamestown. Mandan won both games. Their boys beat Jamestown 14 – 10 and beat our Glen Ullin girls 17 – 9.

After the game, the Mandan Pioneer reported that the Jamestown boys and the Glen Ullin girls were guests in a party in the gym. There was dancing and a lunch was served at midnight. I wonder what the Glen Ullin boys thought about their girls dancing with boys from Jamestown and Mandan?

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 Old Red Old Ten Scenic Byway Committee.

January 2024 By: Bennett Kubischta

Modes of personal transport along the Red Trail has varied throughout time. From walking to horses, from bicycles to motorized bicycles, and by cars, buses, and trucks are some conveyances we have used to move between our cities and farms.

The importance of the horse in the first decades of the Twentieth Century is emphasized by a sale in Richardton in June 1914. An advertisement in the June 2^nd edition of the Fargo Forum by the Richardton Horse Sale Company stated that 800 horses will be sold on June 18^th, 19^th, and the 20^th. Over 600 of these horses, which came from area farms, were harness or halter broken and that the unbroken horses are not wild.

During the next twenty years the importance of the horse for transport faded and we moved between our Red Trail towns, across North Dakota, and the United States by cars and trucks. And with this change came a change in how we maintained these different means of transport.

A good horse needed good feed, proper rest, and good medical care. Motor vehicles, a machine, needed engine maintenance, tire repair, the brakes needed to be serviced, and moving parts needed lubrication.

Squeaks and rattles were a common occurrence on vehicles in the late 1920s and into the early 1930s. In the early 1930s a machine was developed that, in the garage, would simulate road action while the car is not in motion and allows the mechanic to lubricate all points of friction and identifies loose bolts, nuts, springs, and shackles, that need to be tightened.

The Red Trail Garage, in Mandan, acquired a Moto-Sway lift in August 1934. The Mandan Daily Pioneer reported on August 9^th that this “new innovation has accomplished what engineers have attempted for years. It creates road action…and…enables the grease to penetrate every part.”

The Moto-Sway continues to show up in garage newspaper ads until the early 1960s. Many of the cars that traveled on the Red Trail/US Highway 10 during that 30 year period were likely serviced using the Moto-Sway. One of the selling points of the Moto-Sway was that the life of your car would be extended.

Did the using the lubricating method of the Moto-Sway extend the life of our grandparents cars longer than other lubricating methods of the time? We probably don’t know; but what we do know is that the regularly scheduled maintenance of our motor vehicles is most important.

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 Old Red Old Ten Scenic Byway Committee.