Life Along the Line

Life Along the Line. . , Just getting groceries up here could be a challenge, Deep winter snow sometimes made getting to school, going to the doctor, or buying food an adventure., Families living at the top of the Bitterroot Mountains, here at East Portal and Roland, made the most out of a lonely situation., When winter’s deep snow closed the roads, residents ran errands on borrowed “motor cars” that ran on rails, or hitched rides on passing trains. The trains would drop off mail-order groceries, medicines and household supplies., Doris Walton lived both at East Portal and Roland with her husband Homer, the Section Foreman, and her children. She remembers being busy monitoring the weather station and keeping her children occupied. In summer, there was berry picking, fishing and exploring mountain trails., Winter brought sledding, snow fights and school., During the school term, kids boarded with relatives in Avery, or mom and kid stayed in a hotel in Wallace at school district expense. In the early 1950s, students rode to the school bus stop on at Taft on a large “Snow Cat” snowmobile.