My grandfather was a traveling salesman for the Lincoln Drug Company from 1908-1917. He traveled the territory which has been under discussion here for several days..ie Northwest Nebraska..SW South Dakota..Eastern Wyoming..Initially he covered his territory by riding local freight trains, passing out cigars to the crew for "favors"..making his calls on the local Drug Stores..some towns had 2 of them..He traveled along the Q from Ravenna to Alliance to Edgemont. He stayed the "Depot Hotel"..which was still extant until few years ago..He traveled up the Deadwood branch to Hot Springs and the other towns there.
He traveled west through all the Burlington towns fromSeneca west..ie Merna, Thedford Dunning Anselmo, Gillett Moorcroft to name a few.
Sometime during 1908 he purchased a 1908 Ford Touring Car which he drove between those towns...He claimed to be the first man to drive an automobile in the state of Nebraska as a Traveling Salesman.
He told me many stories about the roads in those days which were virtuallly non existent. The ones which were there were designated by initials of the towns they served..Example..the highway which is now 34 and Hwy 2 was known locally as the SYA Seward--York--Aurora.
He told of how you just started driving across the country until you came to a "wire gate" opened it and drove through. He owned a Drug store at Scottsbluff and traveled frequently between his headquarters at Alliance and Scotts bluffs...I heard literally hundreds of times there were "27 wire gates between Alliance and Scottsbluff.
So you young guys who don't really appreciate the fact that the RAILROAD WAS THERE FIRST..the highways kind of followed along.
Just as a little "Side note"...A few years after my GF took over the operation of the RPL&N he was in Chicago discussing business with some of the Burlington "officials"..many of whom he knew from his traveling days..ie Fred Gurley,(ATSF)..Fred Whitman (WP)..W.F Giles and many others.
In the course of their conversation one of the Q men said to GF..."Pete how did you get your experience to run a railroad when you took over the RPL&N"....
Reply: ""Many years ago I spent a lot of time traveling on Burlington Trains in Western Nebraska and I saw all the mistakes that the CB&Q made.....AND I JUST DIDN'T MAKE 'EM"
There's your history lesson from one who got his info direct from someone who lived it.
Pete