The Yellowstone Trail is an old automobile route that was created across the entire country beginning in 1912 in South Dakota. Today, the route follows mostly along Hwy 212 in the Minnesota stretch, but some of the older routes go through the middle of small towns. One of the early promoters and president from 1917 to 1919 was Michael Dowling. In 1880, Dowling suffered extreme frostbite when he was stranded outside during a blizzard. He lost parts of both legs, his left arm, and fingers on his right hand. He went on to become the principal of the school in Granite Falls, Renville and Olivia and a realtor and newspaper man. The trail was the first transcontinental automobile highway in the United States through the northern tier of states from Washington through Massachusetts. Yet too few people are aware of its existence or its social, political and economic effects on either the local communities or the nation.
Recently, there have been efforts to revive the history of this route throughout the USA. A group of interested community leaders from Granite Falls to Buffalo Lake have been meeting to look for ways to create economic development in the string of small towns along Hwy 212. The Yellowstone Trail is one of the logical tools in this effort along with the history of agriculture and cooperatives. The February meeting took place in Bird Island, showcasing their new Arts and Cultural Center -birdislandculture.com/ Convened by Scott Tedrick, formerly the Granite Falls Advocate Tribune editor who is now at the Renville County Register, this is a way to connect and promote our shared heritage. Ideas about how to accomplish this are just in its infancy stages and include events such as an antique car run, long garage sale or market day, historic museums, the arts, cultural mapping of assets through the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota and Yellowstone Trail signage. More information about the trail and detailed maps can be found on their website www.yellowstonetrail.org.