Gathering place of the desert

Cars came along before there were good roads to drive them on. At the turn of the past century, wagon and carriage roads were unsuitable for the new-fangled form of motorized transportation that was becoming increasingly popular.

But a man named Carl Fisher had a vision that would change all that. As the founder of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Fisher was into race cars, but he also saw the potential of the new automobile industry. He envisioned a continuous roadway that would connect New York with San Francisco.

Fisher called his plan the "Coast to Coast Rock Highway" when he unveiled it to a group of automobile industry entrepreneurs. The name was changed, but not the idea, when the Lincoln Highway Association was incorporated in July 1913. Its goal: Build the first transcontinental highway.

For that, it needed the help and cooperation of states the highway would pass through. By then, note Gregory Franzwa and Jesse G. Petersen in their book "Lincoln Highway: Utah" (Patrice Press), Utah, under the direction of Gov. William Spry, was a leader in road improvement.

It was decided that the Lincoln Highway would enter Utah from Evanston, Wyo., go down Echo Canyon on the old Mormon Trail, turn south through Coalville and Wanship, then follow the old road through Parley's Canyon to Salt Lake City.

From the capital, the Lincoln Highway would run south of the Great Salt Lake, through Grantsville to the north end of Skull Valley, then south through the valley via Orr's Ranch to the old Pony Express Trail, which it would then follow to Fish Springs, Callao, Ibapah and Ely, Nev.

Unlike the freeway system that would deliberately bypass towns and settlements, the Lincoln Highway aimed right for them, which made it a rather circuitous route. By 1925, it was determined that a road from Salt Lake City to Nevada via Wendover, following the route that is now I-80, would be more efficient. In 1927, this section of the road was adopted as part of the Lincoln Highway.

But between 1913 and 1927, Orr's Ranch was a popular stopping place for travelers on the famed road.

Matthew Orr, a native of Scotland, came to Skull Valley in 1875. Drawn by some natural springs, he homesteaded the present location of the ranch in 1890, and although he died a year later, his wife, Mary Ann, and sons, William, Hamilton and Daniel, stayed to improve on the homestead.

In 1914, William married Pearl Kauffman and settled on the ranch, where they had five daughters: Geraldine, Charlotte, Lorraine, Doris and Shirley.

Today, Shirley and her husband, Dennis Andrus, still operate the ranch, with the help of their sons and grandsons.

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