A study of Route 66 is a study of American history and the road itself is a symbol of our desire for freedom and adventure. As we drove our rig down Route 66, I felt like we were adding another chapter to its story.
Native peoples and traders, of course, inhabited the area before American expansion but the more recent history starts about the time of the California gold rush and the pioneer migration.
There was a desire to find a reliable year round route to California. So, in 1857 Lieutenant Edward Beale was commissioned to do a survey to find a route along the 35th parallel that would be suitable. He took 25 camels (as an experiment) and 50 men with him on his expedition from Fort Smith Arkansas to California. His survey resulted in the birth of the Old Beale Wagon Road, the Southwest’s first interstate road. Although the road was really just a 10 foot wide dirt path with rocks pushed to the side, it provided a route for the adventurous souls of the western migration.
In 1926, this road was incorporated into a bigger project that provided an east/west interstate system running from Chicago to Los Angeles. The official length was 2448 miles even though only about 800 miles of it were paved at the time. It was officially commissioned as Route 66.
Jump ahead to 1931 and the dust bowl years. With failing crops and unbearable conditions in middle America, families loaded up all of their belongings and headed for a new and hopefully better life in California. The best way to get there was following the Beale Wagon road, now Route 66. Although it was probably not a very friendly drive since the road wouldn’t be completely paved until almost the end of the dust bowl years.
During World War II, the road provided a direct path for the movement of military equipment as well as for those moving to California for jobs involved in the war effort.
After the war, Americans were enjoying their freedom and sense of adventure by getting in their cars and making road trips across the country. This increase in tourism created a heyday for Route 66 as it bolstered the mom and pop businesses along the road resulting in many unique motels and restaurants.
Over the years, the road has been referred to as the Beale Wagon Road, the Will Rogers Highway, Main Street America, the Great Diagonal Way, the Most Famous Road in the World, the Mother Road and of course, Route 66
But, progress always gets in the way and the Interstate Highway Act signed in 1956 began numerous realignments of the road to provide more direct and wider roads to accommodate traffic until “Route 66” was officially decommissioned in 1985. If you have seen the movie “Cars” you know what happens next. The small towns and businesses would now be bypassed and many would sadly succumb.
In the interest of history, nostalgia and the American spirit, we felt the need to at least travel a part of the famous road. We started in Kingman, Arizona at the Route 66 Museum and took one the longest uninterrupted stretches left of the road to Williams, Arizona.
The museum was well worth the visit and the diner across the street provided a little nostalgia for us although it probably only seemed liked “root beer floats and burgers” for the Dudes.
We then drove the two lane road through barren stretches of desert and small towns most of which reminded me of Radiator Springs from the movie Cars. Although a few towns still seemed to have some life left with roadside cafes and motels that had fresh paint.
The road has certainly evolved over the years but even with all of its changes and chapters in history, it has always been a pathway for freedom and adventure and in many ways we are no different than its first travelers, our chapter just includes a different vehicle.
As the song by Bobby Troup goes:
If you ever plan to motor west
Travel my way, the highway that’s the best.
Get your kicks on Route 66!
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