Noted by Henry Lichtenstein in 1803 in his travels through the Hantam and the Roggeveld. There was a farmhouse in the poort lived in by someone called Bruyere; there was a fruit orchard and cornfields, and a small wood of oaks and poplars by a stream.

W.J.Burchell described it in 1811 when he outspanned his two oxwagons under two large Karee trees as "the door to the desert".

1827 there were several routes from Cape Town to the hinterland and in 1848 there was only one very difficult road from Tulbagh to Ceres which crossed the Witzenberg by Mostert's Pass.

1848 the new road through Mitchells Pass was opened (Andrew Geddes Bain); the road then continued through Karoopoort to Sutherland.

1852 the road through Bain's Kloof was opened.

1850 marked the opening of an inn at Karoopoort.

1870 the diamond fields of Kimberley were discovered and a weekly service between Cape Town and Kimberley was started by the Diamond Fields Transport Company. Speculators, diggers, and fortune-seekers passed through Karoopoort in their hundreds. At times there were as many as 30 ox, mule, and horse-wagons travelling through the pass behind one another. Goods transported were hardware, tobacco, wine, brandy, biltong, dried and fresh fruit, vegetables, skins, and mine machinery.

After Ceres the first outspan was at Kafferskraal, the next at Leeufontein, (where the owner had put aside a stretch of ground for that purpose); travellers could overnight at the old Leeufontein homestead; the third outspan was at Hottentotskloof, and the fourth at Karoopoort. The following two outspans were at Platfontein and Smitswinkel.

Soon after this a coach service was started by the Inland Transport Company; they used strong, light wagons which would carry fourteen people including the driver and his two assistants. The sides of the wagon were open but could be closed by lowering canvas shutters to keep out the heat or the rain; each wagon was drawn by 10 Cape mules which had bells around their necks. The service ran from the end of the railway line at Wellington, through Bain's Kloof and Mitchell's Pass to Ceres, and then via Karoopoort to Beaufort West and Kimberley.

1850 - 1900: an inn was established at Karoopoort (the separate barn at the south side of the building); the land was leased from the state with the proviso that travellers could overnight there free.

The Forgotten Highway began to decline in 1875 when the railway line from Wellington reached Tulbagh Rd; by the end of 1876 it had reached Wolseley, and by 1877 it had gone as far as Touws River.

1877 also marked the opening of the Pakhuis Pass from Clanwilliam to Calvinia; whereas previously the only route had been through Karoopoort, it was now quicker to go via Clanwilliam and there was better accommodation available along the route.

1895 marked the end of the busy years for Karoopoort and the road became less and less frequented.

Many famous people passed that way on their way to Kimberley (Rhodes, Dr Livingstone, Le Vaillant etc)

1981 Karoopoort declared a National Monument and 1994 restored by the state.

Route 66 was where you could go to have fun. Everyone I know who has driven the route, comes back with endless stories. Things they saw that you just wouldn't believe. Places that seem lost in time. Also, the other people there on the trip too, you meet people from all over the U.S.. There are no strangers on Route 66, only friends that you haven't met yet. They are all still looking for their kicks on Route 66, and still finding them, in abundance.

I was born in Chicago, and I always thought Route 66 was out west somewhere. Was I surprised to find that it starts in Chicago. Not only that it starts in Chicago, but its part of my past, and its also the beginning of the route. Wow! Where I live right now is the very heart of Route 66, Kingman Az. There is the Hill Top motel, the train station, Route 66 diner, so many unique restaurants, hotels, and motels, The Powerhouse Visitor Center, Canada Mart, gas with souvenirs. Be sure to see downtown Kingman, and Beale St., with all its little shops and cafes.

It's an antique lovers paradise. Pretty much as it was many years ago. There are historic hotels too. This is the home town of Andy Devine of movie fame. The main route through town is also Andy Devine Rd. Route 66 winds through states west of and of course including Illinois. Also, some of the cities and towns it goes through are St. Louis, MO., Tulsa, Ok., Amarillo,Tx., Albuquerque, N.M., Winslow, Flagstaff, and Kingman, Az., Barstow, Ca., and ends in Los Angeles, California.

Many attractions you find along Route 66 are found nowhere else. Thats because there is no other road, or route, where the point is not just to get where you're going. The trip is the point. The trip is the main attraction . Where you stop or how far you go is not the thing. Its the trip. Route 66. The very thought of it takes me back to another place and time. It's like turning back the clock to the a time when we were young and happy. We wore the poodle skirts, had saddle shoes, and ponytails. We wore a scarf tied around our necks, and drank those little bottles of Coca Cola. We were cool.

We talked about boys. Who had the fastest hotrod, the slickest hair, and how wonderful it would be, if we too could get our kicks on Route 66. I remember a television show by the same name. It was a time when Elvis was king, Sam Cook could make you cry, and Little Richard, and Chuck Berry made you want to get up and dance.

I feel bad for those who didn't live in the late 40's and 50's. Life was good. War was over. We had no where to go but up. Minimum wage was under $1. Women still didn't work outside the home too often. And, American women cooked. They made meatloaves, pot roasts, pork chops, mashed potatoes, and over everything was poured gravy. Heavy, delicious, greasy gravy. They made cakes and cookies for dessert. We loved it.

A salad in those days was lettuce and tomatoes, with a heavy mayonnaise dressing. But it was O.K. We moved our bodies and we were slim for the most part. It was an era. It was a time when most Americans were getting more money to spend, and spend it they did. They bought cars. Chevrolet, Ford, Plymouth, Buick.

And where did they go in those cars? On road trips. Motels went up all over, diners too. After all the people have to be fed. Somewhere, someone decided ordinary just wasn't good enough, so extraordinary, happened, and, Route 66 is the result. Bring plenty of film, or at least a digital camera, the attractions abound. There is no way you can resist trying to see everything. It got me hooked, and you will be too. Got some vacation time coming? You know what to do. Get your kicks on Route 66!

If one wished to travel between Canada's two most Western provinces, in the winter, one had to drop South into the U. S. of A. and then pop back up North.

Today there are four highways, between the two provinces, that pass through the Rocky Mountains and are usable year round. In the North we have the Hart Highway that uses the Pine Pass. In the South we have Highway 3 that uses the Crowsnest Pass. In the center of the provinces we have highway 16, commonly, and mistakenly, called the Yellowhead Highway, running through Mt. Robson Provincial Park and Jasper National Park. And, of course, we have the Trans Canada Highway which uses the Roger's Pass.

I can recall, as a youngster, traveling between the cities of Golden and Revelstoke, over what was know as the Big Bend Highway. Basically the Big Bend was a logging road that followed the Columbia River which made a big bend as it flowed North and then curved South. This was an arduous trip of some eight hours, only an hour and half today with modern vehicles on the Roger's Pass which follows the Illecillewaet River.

The road wasn't paved, in most places it wasn't even graveled. In many places it was corduroy road. Corduroy road is road over a wet area that is filled in with logs laid, side by side, across the roadway.

Midway, along the Big Bend was a work camp knows as Boat Encampment. One of the workers, Peter Fuoco, who stayed at the camp, with a two bladed axe, and chisels, in his spare time, made a head out of a section of tree and then with some hand carved board, made a hat for the head.

He called his artwork `Wooden Head'. He placed his masterpiece beside the road and made a sign telling people, `Don't be a woodenhead - slow down'.

When the highway was replaced by the Roger's Pass in 1962, most of the Big Bend highway is now underwater as the valley has been dammed up for a hydro project, the government moved the Woodenhead to the intersection of the Big Bend Highway and the Trans Canada Highway, just East of the city of Revelstoke.

Sometime later Woodenhead was moved into the city of Revelstoke.

In 2005 Woodenhead was restored and placed in a gazebo like cage by the city of Revelstoke. It is hard to tell whether it is the original Woodenhead, covered in plastic, to preserve it, or if it has been totally rebuilt out of fiberglass.

It is easy to tell, at a glance that it isn't wood but it still reminds us old timers of its former glory, when it sat among the trees it was made of, near Boat Encampment.