Red Barn Angus said:
There were some great photos in this contest. It would be really interesting to hear about some of the other pictures and where they were taken.
Since mine came in second place (#3), I'll tell you about it.
This gravel road was the first public road built between Merriman, NE and Martin, SD around 1930, and was used until the late 1950's when the present day, oil highway was constructed. Prior to the building of this road there were only wagon trails with necessary improvements where needed.
The wagon trails skirted wet meadows that earlier had been shallow lakes until they were ditched and drained. Travelers had to manage their trip between the swampy areas and the soft sand hills, an awful combination for teamsters. Short grades still exist in a few places that were made to allow travel where it was next to impossible.
Today, this is mostly a private road used by two landowners and a neighbor or two. We were moving weaned calves on this nice fall day several years ago when I took this photo.