June 26, 1922: Trailblazing auto enthusiasts drum up support for a Jasper highway
“Pathfinders” Charley Niemeyer and Frank Silverthorne, vying to become the first to drive from Edmonton to Victoria via the Yellowhead Pass, visited Edson to stir up enthusiasm for a potential Jasper highway.
Silverthorne, the service manager at Lines Garage in Edmonton, and Niemeyer, his boss and the driver, undertook their journey in an Overland Model 4 to publicize the route and to gain support for the highway.
They drew a large gathering of residents representative not only of automobile association members, but also businessmen and social butterflies.
A procession led by Edson’s mayor set out west for Marlboro, some 32 kilometres away. The three cars that formed an honour guard for the pathfinders were manned by the mayor, a councillor and the local doctor.
The group drove the distance in an hour and 20 minutes and met with the manager of the Marlboro cement plant.
They received strong assurance from him for assistance in improving the Edson-Marlboro road.
The pathfinders continued on to Jasper while the Edson group returned to their town.
Many citizens were disappointed when they studied maps provided by the Automobile and Good Roads Association showing the Town of Edson on a spur line instead of on the main line of the Jasper highway.
Businessmen refused to let Edson be sidetracked and said something would be done to ensure the town is the most important point on the highway when it is built.
Niemeyer and Silverthorne began their journey June 17 and often had to stop to build bridges and corduroy roads or dig themselves out of boggy areas, according to the Glenbow Museum’s website. They brought with them 540 kg of equipment, including four four-metre wooden planks.
At the end of the trip July 4, they were awarded a medal by Charles H. Grant, president of the Edmonton Automobile and Good Roads Association. The ultimate winners were George F. Gordon and J.E. Sims, driving a Model T Ford pickup.