Old highways - like old houses and barns - are part of our landscape history.

The Tribune took a road trip a few days back to rediscover what was left of one of the greats, Highway 10.

The highway back in the early 1900s was part of an extensive dirt trail system criss-crossing the state. It was originally called the Red Trail, connecting the Red River Valley to the Badlands, from Fargo to Beach.

It was named a U.S. highway in 1927 and not a mile of it west of the Missouri River was even paved then.

Like a sturdy '54 Moline tractor, the highway was made obsolete by desire, not necessity.

We desired to go faster quicker because we could, and so the old highway, which connected every town in its path like those connect-the-dot games, was replaced by an anonymous interstate.

But it's not gone, not yet.

In some counties, it's a thriving part of the county's transportation system. In others, it's neglected and in places nearly beyond repair.

A 1959 Edsel was our car of discovery. We thought it made good sense to tour the old road in a car that would have driven it then.

The car had that wonderful aroma, like a pickup's smell of dust and old motor oil. It's a smell of a lot of miles and roads once traveled.

A young man we encountered out on the old highway said it best. He said the highway provided a country view, compared to its supersister counterpart. That's exactly right.

Here, we're never all that far from the country view, thank heaven.

What's left of old Highway 10 is a grand way to see it.