Home
of "Jericho Gap" of Route 66 Fame
by Delbert Trew
Jericho was founded in the late 1880s as a mail
coach stop to change horses and feed any passengers aboard. The faint tracks led
across bare prairie from Saint's Roost (modern day Clarendon)
to Fort Elliott (today's Mobeetie).
Composed of a dugout with drinking water hauled in wooden barrels from a nearby
spring, settlers began to gather as the Indians were removed to reservations after
the Red River Wars ended in the late 1870s.
The
Jericho Cemetery was established in 1894 after an unusual outbreak of Malaria
killed several settlers. The cause was traced to stagnant water at the spring
where drinking water was obtained. Improvements to the facility were made eliminating
the stagnant water.
Construction started in 1900 on a railroad track built
by the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Texas Railroad Company. Most local settlers
and their stock teams worked on the construction project. The first official train
ran on July 6, 1902. Cattle loading facilities were constructed to accommodate
nearby large ranches and a huge water storage reservoir was built by the railroad
to refill steam engines and provide water for people and livestock. Many of the
settlers came to the new settlement by emigrant cars pulled by the steam engines.
Jericho
became famous in legend and folklore after Congress authorized a new coast-to-coast
highway in 1926, calling it Route 66. Its passage through
Jericho added prosperity with several gas stations, stores and a motel built to
serve the travelers.
The main reason for fame came from the stretch of
highway between Alanreed and Groom
which went through Jericho. Called "Jericho Gap" any rains caused the dirt roads
to turn into black-gumbo-mud becoming almost impassible to the vehicles of the
time. Nearby farmers made a good living with their teams of work horses pulling
the travellers from the mud holes. Legend has it that the enterprising farmers
hauled water at night to dump in the mud holes to prolong their source of income.
With the railroad, Route 66 and well-traveled Highway
70 going through their town, citizens of Jericho believed their fair town was
destined for greatness. In the 1930s, Route 66 was
moved one-half mile north, by-passing the town and spelling doom for its future.
Today,
Jericho is a ghost town, with one occupied home amid scattered ruins, cement foundations
and piles of junk.
© Delbert Trew |
