The Last Private Road in Wheeler County

Not a goat trail... maybe...

Frank Olsen’s road doesn’t appear on any map. Not on Google, not on county surveys, not even on the property deeds that define his 800 acres in Wheeler County, Montana. For forty-three years, Frank has maintained sixteen miles of gravel trail that winds through coulees and over ridgelines, connecting his ranch to an abandoned mining camp where his grandfather once pulled copper from the earth. He calls it a goat trail. The satellite imagery shows nothing but unbroken grassland.

This is intentional. This is necessary. This is about to end.

The history of American roads is a history of promises broken and reformed.

The Appian Way taught us that roads meant empire, that Roman soldiers could march from Rome to Brindisi in thirteen days, that commerce and control followed parallel paths.

The Oregon Trail taught us that desire carves its own passages, that wagon wheels cutting through prairie grass could etch a highway of hope and death across half a continent.

Route 66 promised us freedom while delivering us to designated destinations, each town a staged performance of authentic America. The Interstate system brought us speed in exchange for place, turning journeys into transitions, communities into exit numbers.

Now the Information Highway promises us everything while locating us nowhere, tracking our every movement while insisting we’re free to browse.