The miners day was long, with not much money to show;
For all those hard hours he spent in a dark hole.
All you miners today, do you stop and give thanks,
To the hard working men who brought unions into your ranks?
They fought long and hard and some of them died;
For more money, and safety; and they did it with pride.
Remember the time the marshall was shot?
The mob didn't wait for the law to do its job.
All has not always been peaceful and calm;
Especially when Butch Cassidy's gang came along.
They rode into town the payroll to rob.
And tracking them down proved quite a job.
The mine explosion was a terrible disaster,
It still brings sad memories, so many years after.
Then there were floods that took their toll.
Many times people had to walk into town from the railroad bridge below.
A lot of happy memories you'd remember to tell.
Plays, dinners, and winning ball teams without fail,
The 24th of July celebrations were always so much fun.
Food, ball games, parades and races kept everyone on the run.
Church and school activities, even our own band.
Welfare shows, Christmas treats, and the best dances in the land.
Where but in a small town do all ages work and play together.
To build a love and friendship that will last forever.
Our people may be scattered, but no matter where we roam.
As soon as we see that "Castle Gate"
In our hearts we'll know we're home.
Back to Points of InterestAll old timers of Carbon County have memories of the tunnel at Castle Gate. The work of constructing the tunnel was begun in 1931. In the News Advocate dated April 2, 1931 says: "The tunnel which is to be hewed through the cliff about three hundred feet beyond the end of the concrete will be 22 feet in the clear and 14 high and the floor will be surfaced with Portland cement seven inches thick, according to announcement made at the office of the state road commission." Following is some newspaper excepts that tell about the construction in 1931 and the destruction of the tunnel in 1964.
News Advocate - 12 February 1931
...The new road will leave the pavement just south of the bridge over the Price River and cut through the mountain on the left bank of the river. At a point about 400 feet from the end of the pavement, it will be necessary to make a 350 foot tunnel through a rock ledge. The road will continue along the mountain side to the tipple of the Castle Gate mine number three. ...
News Adcoate Newspaper - 8 October 1931
ROLAPP CUTOFF TO OPEN NEXT WEEK; JOB COMPLETE
New Thistle Project on U.S. 50 Opened October 1
The $180,000 Catlegate Rolapp highway which has been under construction for the past several months will be open to travel October 15, it was announced this week at the local state road commisson.
The project, which was built by the Utah Construction company, has been completed and the only delay at present is the time needed for the concrete in the tunnel to set. The entire crew has been moved off the job with the exception of a few men who are placing the protecting binder, or cable, along the edge of the road.
Helper Journal - 21 July 1966
DEDICATION RITES OF CANYON ROAD SLATED FOR JULY 28, (1966)
The official dedication and opening of the new Price Canyon Higway will be held on Thursday, July 28, according to a spokesman for the Price Chamber of Commerce.
Sun Advocate - Ceremonies Mark Formal
... The town of Royal was razed, one side of the natural formation of Castle Gate was blasted away and a 400-foot highway tunnel was blasted into an open cut 280 feet deep through solid rock.
Sun Advocate - Dedication Ceremony
Under a blazing hot sun last Thursday, a crowd of approximately 300 witnessed the dedication of the new Price Canyon highway, the gateway from the north to southeastern Utah and the scenic splendors of the Canyonlands.
Sun Advocate - Formal Opening of Price Canyon Road... Henry C. Helland, state director of highways, noted with regret that the famed Castle Gate rock formation had to be altered to make way for a wider highway. He expressed the hope that new scenic vantage points opened and the tunnel cut would compensate for the altered Castle Gate.
Sun Advocate - Governor Rampton Heads Dignitaries
This is the long-awaited Price Canyon highway - once referred to as the "Rock of Gibralter" by state officials and route aopponents and the third alignment since the original road was developed through this canyon - The Midland Trail - which was opened July 17, 1913. The old Midland Trail was replaced by the second alignment which was started in 1927 with completion of the Castle Gate tunnel portion in 1932.
Do you have special memories of the Castle Gate tunnel. Please share them with everyone else. Send an e-mail to Kathy Hamaker and tell me what you remember about the Castle Gate tunnel. Then I'll add your story to this page so others can read your stories. Thank you for sharing!
Governor Calvin L. Rampton, straying from a more serious note in his talk at a Price Canyon dedicatory luncheon last Thursday at the Carbon Country Club, related his first experience with the old Price Canyon highway.
The governor told of how he, after World War II, purchased one of the Dragerton homes sold to veterans at that time and difficulties he had in moving the structure to Salt Lake City.
The most formidable obstruction to this project was the old tunnel at Castle Gate which he stated proved to be of smaller dimensions than the house thereby forcing his movers to two alternatives - enlarging the tunnel or going by a longer route over Indian Canyon. They chose the Indian canyon route but later, as the governor humorously expressed, they were of the opinion that enlarging the tunnel might have been easier.
We used to go down to the road going up to the tunnel in the summer, when the Green River watermelons were being trucked to Salt Lake City and other sites. The trucks had to be in low gear to get up that grade and were going very slow. One of us would jump on the truck and pass melons to the others running along side the truck, the driver would open his door and throw rocks or coal at us. We never got hit once.
I was very young when we came to Castle Gate to visit my grandparents and other cousins and relatives. We always came from the north but was always able to persuade my father that we had to drive all the way past Castle Gate, drive through the tunnel, honking our car horn all the way and then back tracking to my grandparents house. It was the highlight of the trip to drive through the tunnel.