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Date: | Sun, 18 Dec 2005 17:42:28 -0500 |
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I am surprised no one mentioned this before now, but to travel between Yuma,
Arizona and San Diego, California, one must cross the Glamis Dunes. They are
about 150-feet high and really too soft for horses or people. In fact, the
U.S. Army experimented with camels during the 1850s and the escapees became
legendary through the early 20th century. To get autos across, the State of
California built heavy wooden planks sewn together with massive braided steel
cable. The plank roads slipped with the shifting sands and were always a
harrowing experience. A section has been preserved in the Yuma Crossing, California
State Historical Park along with an old auto. For many years, Caltrans
District 11 had a section preserved in their gardens (but someone dumped it about
ten years ago). I am quite certain this would have been categorized under
corduroy road. Until the 1980s, a section of the plank road survived in the
Glamis Dunes until offroad vehicles smashed it to toothpicks and burned the
pieces for firewood.
Ron May
Legacy 106, Inc.
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