BOOK REVIEWS
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The TRIH was not a new single highway, but a connected system of
primarily two lane roads running across twelve states in largely rural areas. Its
origins began in 1919 with a group of motoring enthusiasts in Duluth,
Minnesota, who planned the route. The international component consists of a
Canadian link from Niagara, Ontario, on to Hamilton, and then back into the
U.S. at Detroit. Regrettably, there are few markers along the route today that
indicate its significance.
Skidmore is to be congratulated for Moose Crossing for several reasons.
First, he seized the welcome opportunity to write on a topic that is seemingly
unrelated to his own scholarly focus. Most academics I know harbor ambitions
to be more creative in planning a new venture that is dear to them, to craft a
jargon-free book on a new subject of popular rather than parochial interest.
Second, Skidmore continually portrays an interesting and rich history of the
generally small towns that adjoin the TRIH. He notes the local culture,
economic development, political landscape, and significant, but often lost,
events from the past that help to define areas. Third, Skidmore’s history of the
TRIH and what one encounters along its coast-to-coast path includes the coming
of age of the automobile in the 20th century. Fourth, the chapters, done state by
state, are steeped in local lore (ghosts in some historic mansions) and specific
details (location of the world’s largest maple candy factory) such that one can
decide where to stay that evening or what restaurant to avoid if replicating the
journey. This is a scaled down version of the Alaska Milepost. Fifth, Skidmore
reminds us on every page of the importance of local libraries, small town
newspaper archives, county museums, and old timers who have stories to tell
about life thirty-fifty-eighty years earlier. The author talked with what seems to
be a treasure trove of individuals in the various towns and burgs where he
stopped along the route in his borrowed pickup truck. More often than not the
locals know little about the significance of their highway that is part of the
TRIH.
Not surprisingly, one finds an interesting history stemming from the 1920s
when opinions about civil rights, women’s rights, worker’s rights, and the plight
of the common person were argued in town halls, bars, and other public venues.
Some of the debate is quite progressive; and then there are the remarks of some
that make one wonder if the popular vote should have been extended to
everyone. Small town America, like its urban counterparts, is a melange of
different views and customs.
Skidmore travels on some of the roads noted in William Least Heat Moon’s
Blue Highways. Skidmore’s narrative is much more satisfying. Moose Crossing
is also reminiscent of Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley. Again, Skidmore’s
exploration into the past makes this a much richer and more substantive account.
A short appendix is included that summarizes Theodore Roosevelt’s
personal and public life. For most of us who know of him only through
paragraphs in American political science and history textbooks, this is a