Tracy Sidwell nears 30 years as the U.S. Postal Service Mail Carrier for Garfield County
Ian Marynowski
The Wayne & Garfield County Insider
The U.S. Post Office is a defining feature of towns in the rural west. Bryce Canyon City, Tropic, Henrieville, Cannonville, Escalante and Boulder wouldn’t be considered real towns if it weren’t for their offices. As much as the post office might make a town, it is the courier who links them all together. For the past 30 years in Garfield County, that courier has been Tracy Sidwell.
“I have hauled the mail, I’ve hauled freight, I’ve hauled kids, auto parts, hauled blood from the clinic and taken the groceries and milk to Boulder,” said Sidwell.
Beyond moving commodities and taking local children to visit their grandparents in the next town over, Sidwell has also leased farmland in Boulder and helped with auto repairs at Cottam’s 66 in Escalante, all in between his strictly scheduled mail drops. His evenings were further spent moving concrete materials to the various batch plants in the area.
“Some people might say I’m a workaholic, but I take my job very seriously; I take a lot of pride in it,” said Sidwell, who has never missed the outgoing mail truck in Panguitch each afternoon. “In my 30 years of doing this, I think I was only late once, and that was because of the Bryce Canyon Marathon the first year they ran it.”
Not a bad track record considering Sidwell has made the 200-mile round trip journey six days a week, rain, snow or otherwise for the better part of three decades.
Two hundred miles a day adds up quickly, and all of Sidwell’s trucks are pushing half a million miles. “I’ve always driven a Dodge, and when one of them fails me, I’ll try a Ford, but that hasn’t happened yet,” said Sidwell.
He recollects towing an out-of-gas semi-truck up the Blues and helping UDOT vehicles navigate Head-of-the-Rocks during intense snow storms. His trusty RAM 3500 has only left him on the side of the road once, but Sidwell was able to call on his community for help and still made his mail drops on time.
“I love the people of Garfield County,” said Sidwell. Born and raised in Escalante, he graduated from high school there in 1991. This is where he met Brent Cottam, who was his basketball coach at the time.
“Brent was such a huge mentor to me, and I like that we’ve been able to help each other through the years. I used to haul fuel in Brent’s fuel truck up to Boulder to deliver gas, and I took my mail with me, and sometimes Brent has hauled the mail to Boulder for me in the fuel truck when I’ve been away,” Sidwell said.
This relationship has continued with Sidwell often moonlighting (during the day) as a mechanic at Cottam’s auto repair shop in between his delivery deadlines.
“I just love hanging out with Donnie, Cort and those guys at the shop, and hanging at the Beauty Bar with Stephanie [Cottam] and her clients,” he said. It’s a community built through connectivity.
“Reliable delivery out here is very important. You know, I don’t want to brag, but I think I’ve helped a lot of people out through the years. And a lot of people have helped me out too,” he said.
But when Sidwell is on the road, it is just him and his stereo for company.
“I listen to a lot of music, but I also listen to a lot of books,” he said. Some of his favorites are from LDS author Gerald Lund and classic western writer Louis L’Amour. “I can listen to some books over and over, I’ve probably listened to The Undaunted by Lund fifteen times.”
Sidwell might have been born for this job; he doesn’t even need any fancy cushions for his seat to make the ride more comfortable, “my butt just does that for me,” he said.
“When I was growing up, I never thought I’d be a mailman,” he said. “My childhood dream was to be a long-haul trucker. I don’t know what it is, but I have always really liked trucks and equipment.”
Sidwell took on his current job by starting as a relief driver for the previous contract holder, Kent McInelly, following several years running trucks and equipment related to the timber industry in Panguitch.
While his current job as a U.S mail contractor might not involve tractor-trailers on the open road, it is hard to pass up the wonderful people and scenery of Highway 12. Sidwell looks to continue his work, under a subcontract for the Pony Express, for at least a little while longer. But he still dreams of one day owning and operating his own big rig.
Next time you see Sidwell carrying your mail, auto parts or freight between Panguitch and Boulder, don’t forget to give him a wave.
This story was originally published by the Wayne and Garfield County Insider, delivering weekly news to rural communities in Utah for 30 years. Learn more at insiderutah.com.
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