TRAVELING JOURNAL IN A 1916 MODEL T
Editors note: Dave Trainer brought in this story, which was written by his uncle, Haldane W. Bean. It is about a father and his three sons who traveled from southern Illinois to Yellowstone driving a 1916 Model T. Dave is the son of Dean Trainer, who started Trainer’s Shell Service Station on the corner of Lower Huntington and Bluffton Roads in 1949.
We arrived in Yellowstone Park from the north entrance and pitched our tent in one of the camping sites erected for that purpose. We enjoyed the scenery but we had not seen a bear. We were constantly being told to not feed the bears. The next morning father got up a little earlier than usual and went outside. He walked around a few minutes and then called for us to come out and see the bear. We immediately went outside but there was no bear that we could see. About that time a lady, dressed as if she had just got out of bed, came dashing out of a neighboring tent. She was yelling and screaming as if she were scared. Apparently a bear had poked his head under the backside of her tent. She came out of the front. Father looked at her and then turned to us and calmly said, “That wasn’t exactly the kind of bear that I wanted you boys to see.”
Yellowstone provided sights for several days. We left by way of the East Gate. Just as we were leaving the park father asked if we needed any gasoline. I had just checked the tank and I was positive that we did not. The price was 55 cents a gallon and I thought that was too much to pay. Cody was less than a hundred miles away and a half tank of gasoline should be enough. I insisted that I was right so we did not buy any.
Shoshone Dam was interesting and we spent sometime looking it over. We got back in the car and headed again for Cody. Just ahead was a steep mountain grade. We were getting near the top when I heard a couple of coughs and then silence. The force of the gravity was greater than our supply of gasoline. We stopped on a road that was just wide enough for one car at a time. We tried to push the Model T but there was too much weight. We each took a hold of a wheel and synchronized our efforts. Eventually we were at the top of the grade and ready to roll again.
Harold got into a car with our fellow travelers who were slightly delayed by our misfortune. He was going in to Cody to get some gasoline and then come back for us if we needed some more help. We followed close behind. We arrived in Cody before he found any gasoline.
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