"Walk your horses, and keep to the right..."

Although my parents were Americans, and lived in St. Vincent, Minnesota, I was born in Emerson, Manitoba. It was 1959, and at that time, Emerson was the closest medical facility; it also wasn't as unusual then, as it would be now, for people to go back and forth as a matter-of-fact daily act for shopping and other services. We were waved - yes, waved - through the borders, Canadian and American sides. People knew the locals that well.

Emerson has a bridge (may still have that bridge - I don't know since I haven't checked in over 30 years...) - the CPR railway bridge, that was not far from the Emerson Hospital where I was born. A large black truss bridge, it had a small walkway to the right, that had a puzzling sign to me: "Walk your horses, and keep to the right!" I asked Mom about it once, and she explained that the bridge once was used by buggies and early automobiles, and that the sign had been left as a quaint reminder of a time gone by. Even then, I thought that was pretty cool - I've always loved hearing about the past.

I found the photo used in this post of that same bridge when it was newly opened. In the dim image, you can still see that same sign...