Maine Tales. What's the Matter with Nebraska? Circa 1911.

About forty years ago we got into a tussle over Covered Bridges. Our friend had moved to Aroostook County to raise sheep. He was from Nebraska and after farming in the town next door to us he eventually went back to western Nebraska to run a large 2500-ewe sheep ranch.

We kept a small flock of Rambouillet sheep at Wood Prairie at the time and our friendship sprouted from our mutual interest in the sheep biz.

Covered Bridge Controversy

We never came to blows over Covered Bridges, but we also never came to any reasonable conclusion as to why they were invented. Covered Bridges were fairly common in Maine and the snowy Northeast, but they were absent in Nebraska. Why was that?

Was the heavy snow in Maine a factor? In the old days before snow-plowing they ‘rolled’ the snow, so that horses with sleighs and sleds would travel during Winter on top of the packed snow. With a deep buildup of snow, were Mainers worried a horse might slip off the bridge into the icy waters below? Were horses scared by the sound and sight of rushing water?

Our friend argued that in Covered Bridge-less Nebraska it also snowed – though the wind blows the snow much more there in the vast treeless expanse – and while that country was dry they had at least some creek water which rushed by, doing so without scaring Nebraska horses.

Modern Re-Discovery

Turns out the debate about the long lost reason behind Covered Bridges has over the decades attracted a surprising amount of conversation and speculation in places far afield. There is now broad consensus and confidence that we moderns have miraculously rediscovered what our forebears understood, unlocking why they went to all that trouble of building Covered Bridges.

They were motivated by longevity and economy.

Here in the rainy and snowy Maine woods country everything was built from lumber because wood was so readily available and inexpensive. An uncovered wood bridge would last ten, or possibly twenty years before needing replacing. On the other hand a Covered Bridge, offering perfect protection to wood joints and truss timbers would last a century.

Frugal New England farmers understood it was in the end much less costly, and way more practical, to build right a single primary bridge every hundred years than to build five or ten bridges on the cheap in need of perpetual replacement.

So when Town Meeting rolled around every March, being careful and accountable with the tax dollars they assessed themselves, Maine’s rural citizens would vote to do things right and appropriate funds for the tried and true. That meant building Covered Bridges that would last and be an investment in community.

Caleb, Megan & Jim

Megan's Kitchen Recipes:
Roasted Garlic and Potato Soup