41°03'50.5"N 111°32'51.7"W

Within a narrow canyon (less than 500 feet) through which the Weber River, I-84, and the line of the original Transcontinental Railroad pass, is a geological formation known as "Devil's Slide. The vertical slide consists of two parallel limestone outcroppings about 25 feet apart and 40 feet in height, extending about 350 feet in length up the canyon wall. Originally called the Devil's War Club by the Shoshone, the Gutter Defile by railroad workers constructing the railroad in the late 1860s, and the Devil's Slide by the mid-1870s (a more dramatic name than Gutter Defile).

The limestone walls have a Mohs hardness of about 4 while the inner and outer layers have a hardness of 3. Over many years, the softer layers have eroded faster than the harder layers developing a feature suitable for pull-outs on the Interstate. As opposed to the wetter east, limestone is prominent in the dry west. Limestone - mostly calcium carbonate - dissolves (slowly) in water.

Legend - likely not an ancient legend - has it the devil uses the slide every morning to come down to the river to bathe. On hot days, condensation can rise from between the walls - the Devil's breath warming the rocks.

The Union Pacific has touted the formation as a point of interest for travellers of the line since the opening of the line in 1869.

In the early 1900s, a large limestone deposit was discovered across the canyon. Limestone being a component of concrete, a corporation was formed and a company town - Devils Slide - was formed. At its height, the town had a population of about 500 people. It also boasted concrete sidewalks, a 2-story, 20 room hotel, a railroad depot, post office, and two schools. Being a company town, residents rented their homes. Those that preferred to not pay rent - and had means of transportation - moved to nearby towns. By the mid-1980s, the town was fading away and the company closed the town by the end of the decade. The last resident was a railroad foreman living in a railroad owned home. The railroad tore down this structure in the early 1990s and the site is now under a pile of tailings with only a few foundations still visible ... on private property. The former limestone mine is now a gravel pit. The current operation is vaster than the limestone mine and has effectively widened the canyon at that spot.

I wish I had taken photos of what was left of the town when I was passing through there in the early 80s. But I can say the same about many places I've been ...

In order across the canyon, NE to SW: the quarry, the town site, the railroad, I-84, the Weber River, Devil's Slide. It's a tight squeeze. Good place to watch trains if that's your thing. I've done so many times. But that's one of my things.

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Re: General news items
Just because you exercise your right to protest doesn't mean your cause is right or that you get your way.

It certainly doesn't mean you get to interfere with my right to to go about my business and ignore you.

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Unfortunately, some national magazine or something publicized US50 as "The Loneliest Highway in America" sometime around 1986 ... which created enough traffic that I doubt that statement is true anymore. As one article stated: "this quirky landmark has become a must-see for travelers."

Damn ...

Way back when though, that statement about loneliest highway was true - there was no gas between Fallon and Ely - some 260 miles with only two towns in between (and no gas) followed by another 160 miles between Ely and Delta, also with nothing in between that was - if anything - even more remote ... and that discouraged traffic. As did the 110 mile stretch between Salina and Green River.

That I-70 in Colorado was still a two-lane US highway through Glenwood Canyon - windy, twisty, perhaps uncomfortably close to the Colorado River - also limited traffic, particularly semi traffic.

Even now, with I-70 a full Interstate, that's still some remote country.

I often travelled between Reno and Grand Junction in the early/mid 80s, often by motorcycle. Although I-80 to Salt Lake, then down US6 to I-70 at Green River was the quickest route (I-70 was a 2-lane road then even though it did have Interstate status), I preferred US50 to Salina where I picked up I-70 (I-70 ended in a dirt embankment at Salina then)

Out along 50 in the middle of Nevada, between Middlegate and Eastgate, perhaps midway between Fallon and Austin, is "The Shoe Tree".

Story has it that back in the 40s or 50s, newly-weds had stopped and camped for the night along the road. They got in an argument, the wife threatened to walk away, and the husband tossed her shoes up into a nearby tree. He left for a nearby bar ("nearby" being relative - probably Middlegate) where the bartender convinced the man to go back and get his wife. They reconciled and when their first child was born, they tossed a pair of his shoes up into the tree as well. They continued the tradition on each anniversary.

This was generations ago and over the years, travellers would stop and toss shoes up into the tree until the tree appeared to be bearing fruit when viewed from a distance.

At the time when some twits cut down the tree (2010), there were thousands of shoes hanging from this old cottonwood. Rumor has it a man from Fallon found his wife met her lover at the tree, so he cut it down to keep that from happening (how did that work out for you, fellow?)

Since then, a nearby tree is now Shoe Tree II ... but something more than just the original tree was lost; it's a tourist site with a pull-out.

I just drive on by anymore ...

Just a note: this section of US50 is essentially the old Pony Express trail.

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America is a Christian country that has enough tolerance to allow its citizens to worship as they desire - within the background of a Christian culture.

Don't like it? You're free to move to a country more in line with your beliefs; you don't have the right to change ours.

The separation of Church and State does not mean no religion; it means the State will not dictate religion and the Church does not define political positions. All in all, the Ten Commandments are a fairly good set of rules independent of religious undertones.

However: You can not be Muslim and American; the fundamental beliefs contradict each other.

I'm a bit hard-core; I'd have no objection if Muslims in the US were deported to Muslim countries. We should not accept any refugees from Muslim countries; they are not able to follow the oath of citizenship (speaking somewhat tongue-in-cheek as Mrs DT comes from a Muslim country ... although she is not Muslim and is baptized Lutheran.)

But in fairness to the muzzies, I saw this meme and thought I'd check the Koran for "accuracy" - the version I read was an English translation which may be questionable in itself.

The same verses taken from the Koran:

2:191
Kill them wherever you come upon them and drive them out of the places from which they have driven you out. For persecution is far worse than killing. And do not fight them at the Sacred Mosque unless they attack you there. If they do so, then fight them—that is the reward of the disbelievers.

3:28
Believers should not take disbelievers as guardians instead of the believers—and whoever does so will have nothing to hope for from Allah—unless it is a precaution against their tyranny. And Allah warns you about Himself. And to Allah is the final return.

3:85
Whoever seeks a way other than Islam, it will never be accepted from them, and in the Hereafter they will be among the losers.

5:33
Indeed, the penalty for those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and spread mischief in the land is death, crucifixion, cutting off their hands and feet on opposite sides, or exile from the land. This ˹penalty˺ is a disgrace for them in this world, and they will suffer a tremendous punishment in the Hereafter.

8:12
˹Remember, O Prophet,˺ when your Lord revealed to the angels, “I am with you. So make the believers stand firm. I will cast horror into the hearts of the disbelievers. So strike their necks and strike their fingertips.”

8:60
Prepare against them what you ˹believers˺ can of ˹military˺ power and cavalry to deter Allah’s enemies and your enemies as well as other enemies unknown to you but known to Allah. Whatever you spend in the cause of Allah will be paid to you in full and you will not be wronged.

8:65
O Prophet! Motivate the believers to fight. If there are twenty steadfast among you, they will overcome two hundred. And if there are one hundred of you, they will overcome one thousand of the disbelievers, for they are a people who do not comprehend.

9:5
But once the Sacred Months have passed, kill the polytheists ˹who violated their treaties˺ wherever you find them,1 capture them, besiege them, and lie in wait for them on every way. But if they repent, perform prayers, and pay alms-tax, then set them free. Indeed, Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

9:30
The Jews say, “Ezra is the son of Allah,” while the Christians say, “The Messiah is the son of Allah.” Such are their baseless assertions, only parroting the words of earlier disbelievers. May Allah condemn them! How can they be deluded ˹from the truth˺?

9:123
O believers! Fight the disbelievers around you and let them find firmness in you. And know that Allah is with those mindful ˹of Him˺.

22:19
These are two opposing groups that disagree about their Lord: as for the disbelievers, garments of Fire will be cut out for them and boiling water will be poured over their heads,
22:20
melting whatever is in their bellies, along with their skin.

47:4
So when you meet the disbelievers ˹in battle˺, strike ˹their˺ necks until you have thoroughly subdued them, then bind them firmly. Later ˹free them either as˺ an act of grace or by ransom until the war comes to an end. So will it be. Had Allah willed, He ˹Himself˺ could have inflicted punishment on them. But He does ˹this only to˺ test some of you by means of others. And those who are martyred in the cause of Allah, He will never render their deeds void.

For whatever it's worth ...

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submitted by G706

I have been carrying a Zippo lighter in my pocket for 4 years now, even though I don’t smoke. I carry it to honor a memory.

Uncle Rudy was not really my uncle, he was married to my dad’s first cousin, but when I was a child every adult who was familiar enough to not need to be addressed as Mister or Mrs. was referred to as Uncle or Aunt out of respect.

I remember him as a friendly, solid man, a sharp mechanic who worked at the local car dealer and played trombone in the band at the First Baptist Church. I know he served in the Pacific during World War 2 and had some health issues from that time. He died in a car accident when he was only 58.

Aunt Irene played the piano at the Baptist church. She never remarried and lived to be 96 dying in 2021. That summer her family had an estate sale at her farm. I was looking through the tables of knickknacks and stuff and saw the Zippo laying there among the bits of jewelry. I picked it up and paid the dollar price, took it home and replace the flint and filled it.

I like to think Uncle Rudy carried it during the war, but as far as I could know he never smoked. I looked up the serial number, it was made in 1966 so it was probably just for starting fires. Doesn’t matter to me, it’s a reminder of my neighbors and relatives of my father’s generation that served in Europe and the Pacific. The ones who came back and fought the demons of war silently or carried the wounds of battle and those that never came back.

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