Oregon's Sunset Hwy. Rededicated To Army's 41St Infantry Division

ELSIE, Ore. - Most motorists who have traveled U.S. 26 may have thought it's called the Sunset Highway because it heads into the west.

A logical answer, but not the right one.

It's named in honor of the Army's 41st Infantry Division, the Sunset Division, so called because most of its first troops in 1917 came from the nation's westernmost states, particularly Washington and Oregon.

U.S. 26, formerly called the Wolf Creek Highway, was dedicated in 1948 as the Sunset Highway in recognition of the division.

Military and state transportation officials gathered recently at a rest area for a ceremony to rededicate the road. They unveiled a monument crafted of beach sand from Japan, New Guinea and the Philippines.

The 41st's military history encompasses World War I and campaigns in the Philippines and South Pacific in World War II.

Reorganized in the 1968, the unit is now the 41st Infantry Brigade, part of the Oregon Army National Guard.