In 1905 when the first horseless carriages began to appear in Battle Ground, there were only three roads. Lewisville road (now 503) was off to the West but it was not considered part of town. Main street ran East and West as it does today and Scotton Lane (now Parkway) ran North and South. Scotton Lane was named after Kyle Scotton who was a pioneer to the area and was a key figure in the lumber business. The road led out to his ranch on the Lewis River just North of town.
At first, the streets were hard packed dirt and gravel that became quite muddy during rainy season. Eventually the dirt gave way to neatly laid planks providing relief from the mud. The plank streets were George Andersen's idea and the lumber was provided by Scotton and his cronies. George was a local dairyman.
Well, as the story goes, one day Mr.Scotton was coming into town riding in his new horseless carriage. Showing off for the ladies, he was going as fast as he could, about 15 MPH. The carriage was hard to control on the plank street. At the same time, Johnny Rutledge, Jason Rutledge's son, was bolting out of town on his Appaloosa pony at a full run.
Carrie Stevens, walking her big red dog north on Scotton Lane, saw the noisy carriage approaching and moved off the planks to the right, just as the horse was approaching behind her. Suddenly, a grey squirrel darted across the street causing her dog to go beserk. He jerked away from Carrie and charged after the squirrel in a barking fit of excitement that only dogs can produce. Squirrel and dog ran right across the street, right in front of the horse and the carriage.
The spooked horse leaped to the left just as Kyle swirved to miss the dog. The resulting head on collision of horse and carriage was the first recorded traffic accident in Battle Ground. Kyle and Johnny escaped with minor cuts and bruises. The squirrel got away, and the dog received a severe tongue lashing from Carrie. The horse died of a broken neck. The collision took place about 1/3 mile north of the intersection of Main and Scotton, right about where this cache has been placed.
People started calling the road "Dead Horse lane" and the name stuck for quite a while. In the early 50's the city counsel decided that a nicer name was needed and after much argument, the name "Parkway" was the accepted choice.