Dear Dennis,
The comments on Van Orden’s Hill brought back some memories of the many steep hills in Houghton and Hancock. Some of these had downright dangerous grades even under clear, dry conditions; and I marvelled that the locals could negotiate them successfully in all types of weather.

Coming from the prairies of Illinois, it was a real experience to drive up and down the ice- and snow-packed, really steep streets. One in particular–the driveway from the Wadsworth parking lot down to US 41–could be really treacherous, as that time it ended at a blind curve on the most heavily travelled road in Houghton. Sometimes it would be so icy that I had to take it facing downward but in reverse gear to make sure my Dodge Dart could brake without sliding into the highway.

Neil Foreman ’67