Due to its isolated location, tourism on the Grand Canyon’s North Rim did not develop as early nor as grandly as it did on the South Rim. For instance, as early as 1901, visitors could take a train directly to the South Rim, yet the North Rim has never benefited from a direct conveyance. The following year (1902), visitors could mail a letter or post card at the Grand Canyon Post Office. However, service to the North Rim had to wait until June 1, 1928, when the Kaibab Forest Post Office opened in the Union Pacific’s Lodge Center. Prior to the 1928 opening of the Lodge Center, William W. Wylie and his daughter Elizabeth Wylie McKee operated the Wylie Way Camp from 1917 to 1927, the North Rim’s first concession and main accomodations at Bright Angel Point. No mail service was provided for their guests. Now let’s look at the history of the Kaibab Forest Post Office and mail service on the North Rim.  

My knowledge of World War II history is probably a little better than most people born in the 1960s, yet this description was full of intriguing places, names and terms that I knew little or nothing about. So, I went on a journey through cyberspace in an effort to find out more about how the letter somehow made it's way to the addressee, who were the people involved, and what may have been written in the now-lost letter. That journey is shared with you today.

As Japan's crusade of terror continued its rampage ever southward, the U.S. War Department was getting its house in order as a prelude to a possible future conflict. It was decided that the New Mexico National Guard’s 111th Cavalry Regiment should convert to a different method of operation; soldiers mounted on horses, defending American soil, were a thing of the past. This regiment, under the command of Deming newspaper publisher, Colonel Charles G. Sage, became the 200th Coast Artillery (Anti-Aircraft) Regiment. They were then duly federalized and brought into the U.S. Army. Called into active duty on January 6, 1940, the regiment was sent to Fort Bliss, Texas, for training.

In Tucson, planning was underway for the Southern Arizona Fair to be held November 4 - 6, 1915. The planning committee was able to entice aviatrix Katherine Stinson as their principal attraction. She would appear in Tucson after her exhibition booking in St. Louis on October 30. Clever, or misleading, marketing noted Stinson as a “17-year-old schoolgirl who has been doing stunts in the east.” A few days later, the Tucson Citizen referred to her as “the celebrated aviatrix, who has accomplished more at 19 [years of age] than many celebrated aviators.” In reality, Stinson was then approaching 25 years of age!

The publicity in the Tucson Citizen focused on Stinson’s aerial skills, her “daredevil aviation stunts,” including her as the only woman doing a loop-the loop, flying upside down, and doing her famous “Death Drop of at least two-thousand feet.” An advertisement from the October 30, 1915, Tucson Citizen can be seen in Figure 4.

Obscure, ignored and unappreciated is a harsh but reasonable description for Transfer Clerk postmarks. The two collector groups with possible interests avoid them for different reasons; Railway Post Office (RPO) postmark collectors relegate them to auxiliary, back-of-the-book status and Territorial postal history collectors shun them because of their Railway/RPO association and uncatalogued standing. However, my recent research into Albuquerque, New Mexico, Transfer Clerk postmarks has revealed a compelling history deserving of greater interest and research.

Transfer Clerk postmarks, abbreviated "TRANS. CLK." (or similar) within the postmark’s dial, are notable for including only a single city’s name while also lacking the abbreviation "RPO." These features differentiate Transfer Clerk postmarks from RPO postmarks, which include two or (sometimes) three town names and incorporate the RPO abbreviation. The town names within an RPO's dial were the termini or transit towns of the railroad’s route contract, e.g., Albuquerque & Los Angeles.

The initial appeal of the cover seen on the front page of this issue was its stamp. Franked with a 3-cent, "Win the War" adhesive (Scott #905), it neatly fit into my postal history collection of this 1942 adhesive. This Tombstone, Arizona gem, however, is key to a much bigger story than, "This is a cover franked with a Win The War stamp and canceled with a Tombstone machine cancel."

The corner card for John Giacoma's feed and oil business did not jump out. Below it was a patriotic shield with the notation, "We are on the Broadway of America — The All-year Highway." This sentence caught one hundred percent of my attention. What was the Broadway of America?

The Broadway of America was the brain child of the Old El Paso Gateway Club. The group worked in the late 1920s to get a trans-continental highway that could be used year around. The proposed road or linkage of routes was to connect New York City's Broadway with Broadway in San Diego. In 1 932, the Broadway of America highway stretched 3,298 miles with 3,063 paved and 235 hard surface. A map of the route can be seen in Figure 1. A closer look at the map, covering the New Mexico and Arizona portion, can be seen in Figure 2.