A BEAR RIVER MAILMAN In 1940, Gerard McCloskey , of Bear River assumed the duty of mailman, taking over from his father, the late Peter McCloskey . At 8 a.m. he left the post office in Bear River to start delivering the mail. Regulations stated that he could not begin his deliveries before that time. The horse-and-wagon in summer, or the horse-and- sleigh in winter provided his transportation. In summer, the job was pleasant, except for the hot sun, rain, and clouds of dust since the roads were not yet paved. He usually arrived home at one or two o'clock in the afternoon, depending on the amount of mail to be delivered. However, winter was another story, for many times the mailman had to break the road because there were no snow- ploughs when he first started the mail-route. Needless to say, the horse would get tired; so he stopped at the resident of the late Phoebe Deagle , where he would feed and water the horse, and have his own lunch as well. Occasionally, it would storm for two or three days, and then he would venture out with more mail than usual, and have even deeper snow drifts to block his path. Mr. McCloskey relates that on days like this, he would return home after dark. He carried a flashlight with him so that he could read the mail to put in the boxes. Once, he delivered the mail on New Year's Day. It had stormed for several days before the storm abated. Being a faithful mailman, he answered the call of duty, and made his deliveries. He noted that this was easier than in his father's day since Christmas and New Year's were no exception to the rule. The mail had to be delivered on those days, as usual. Mail was delivered six days a week. The mailman's job did not end there. Gerard owned a general store. People would give him an order when he was making the 115