Dear editor:
Uinta County's Fourth of July Parade is staged in Ft. Bridger, every July 4th - whatever day that may be.
It has been held at 11 a.m. on Independence Day for the past 70 years and has grown into an unbelievable spectacle.
First of all, anyone who has driven through Ft. Bridger, on old Highway 30, has to wonder how the American Legion Post in tiny Ft. Bridger can produce a parade of any kind?
There is only one paved road through the village - the afore-mentioned US 30.
They close the mile-long stretch of the road that runs through the town to any traffic that is just passing through and re-routes those cars to the gravel backroads through the town.
Folks grapple for the best positions to watch the parade starting at sundown on July 3rd.
By "Dawn's Early Light," of the 4th there is one-mile of lawn chairs setting armrest-to-armrest along both the north and south sides of the road. By 9 there isn't any standing room only left behind the lawn chairs.
Yesterday's parade featured politicians, business entries, beautiful horses, antique autos and trucks, lots of military, veterans' groups, lots of law-enforcement, lots of pretty girls, bikers and lots first-responders driving their state-of-the-art (thank God) equipment.
The parade started after a girl sang, "The Star-Spangled Banner," over a loud-speaker exactly half-way along the parade route.
Uinta County's semi-quincentennial committee ruled that the 2026 parade would be held in Evanston.
"Over our dead bodies," the Ft. Bridger American Legion cried. "We'll triple the parade route's length for more celebration, more history, and more community spirit."
Don't miss the parade next year. Reserve your lawn chair space, early.
C.W. Alexander
Evanston, WY
