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w w w. d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m
Not long after the Great Depression began, the Army, wanting to
show off its new heavy equipment, made a cross-country trek through
the heartland of America. One of the officers on that long, difficult
journey across unimproved roads was Lt. Colonel Dwight D. Eisen-
hower. It seems likely his memories of that voyage on broken Amer-
ican roads were on his mind when he first gazed upon the German
autobahns at the end of World War II. In 1956, when he became Pres-
ident, he championed the creation of America's Interstate Highway
System, which created large concrete multilane roads that would
snake across the country, making routes like the Roosevelt Highway
obsolete.
Journalist and television host Charles Kuralt once said, "The inter-
state highway system is a wonderful thing. It makes it possible to go
from coast to coast without seeing anything or meeting anybody." And
while those sarcastic words might resonate with those of us who regu-
larly travel on monotonous strips of interstate highway, there are high-
ways in Montana where the small towns, wide-open spaces and rug-
ged natural beauty offer a respite.
In 1960, John Steinbeck made a 10,000-mile journey across Ameri-
ca in a homemade camper he nicknamed Rocinante, after Don Quixo-
te's worn-out horse. Sitting in the seat beside him was a poodle he named
Charley. Steinbeck wrote about his journey in the book Travels With
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