After removing the backseat to make room for more gear, they packed the following items to begin the long journey: Unfortunately, a lot of their gear bounced out the back as they drove without them realizing it and several things were lost including two pairs of Jacksons eyeglasses. This article about a historical documentary film is a stub. In 1903, H. Nelson Jackson, Sewall Crocker, Western roads were still unimproved in 1909 when Alice Huyler Ramsey drove across the country. In Idaho, Jackson acquired Bud, and the bulldog accompanied the pioneering motorists to the East Coast. But relief would not comfort them since they soon heard that competing corporate sponsored teams from both Packard and Oldsmobile were chasing them down hoping to steal the crown of first across the US in a motor car. Packard had secretly been planning their journey for months before Horatios fateful 50 dollar bet, and Oldsmobile had hoped to show the world what assembly line manufactured cars were capable of. , The route of US 30 traces its origin to the early 1900s. On June 16, somewhere in Idaho, Jackson's coat, containing most of the travelers' money, fell off and was not found. Heeding the omens of a previously failed attempt to cross the continent just a couple years earlier by automobile pioneerAlexander Winton(original builder of Horatios Winton) by way of the deserts of Nevada and Utah, the two explorerstook a more northerly route through theSacramento Valley along the remnants of the originalOregon Trail. Quite a flurry of excitement was erected Saturday evening by the arrival of an automobile. Horatio's Drive: America's First Road Trip TV Movie 2003 TV-G 1 h 47 m IMDb RATING 8.0 /10 546 YOUR RATING Rate Documentary Adventure History The saga of Horatio Nelson Jackson, the first man to cross the United States by automobile--in 1903! [7] Jackson and Crocker replaced it with the only spare they had, in fact, the only right-sized spare tire they could find in all of San Francisco. Horatio's Drive Follow the route that Horatio Nelson Jackson and his passengers took across the country. Another brother, Hollister Jackson, served as Lieutenant governor of Vermont. On June 6, the car broke down, and they had to be towed to a nearby ranch by a cowboy on horseback. The trek will begin at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco with a gala sendoff, including the attendance of filmmaker Ken Burns, who recently completed a documentary about the first cross-country drive. Thankfully, they could then manage about 250 miles a day. Want to know what other interesting things there are to see out on the road? No one was injured; it was the only accident on the trip. Darling Swipes,The car is at the shop & they are to work all night so that I can get away in the morning. Jackson did manage to find a telegraph office and wired back to San Francisco for replacement tires to be transported to them along the journey. Be inspired! It was a fascinating story, full of experiences that I could totally relate to while at the same time it was an adventure I could hardly imagine. There were also no signs because most people out driving were locals who knew all the turns already. Jackson was unable to buy a new tire, but purchased some used inner tubes. Kesling's entourage will roughly follow the route taken by Jackson through the Sacramento Valley, past Mount Shasta into Alturas, through Oregon and then swinging eastward toward the Rockies. that the automobile could be more than an expensive toy. After leaving New York City Jackson joined his wife and drove home to Vermont. Jackson walked back to the last town to get oil, only to discover eventually that they had been stopped only a short distance outside of Vale. Jackson walked back to the town of Vale, Oregon to stock up on oil for this latestrepair. You are the best little wife in the world and I am a mighty lucky fellow to have you.Yes, old girl, I appreciate it, if, sometimes I have a queer way of showing it.Four years tomorrow!!!! [1] His siblings included John Holmes Jackson, who served several terms as mayor of Burlington, Vermont. Contractor Welland assisted the party back to Archer and they are now coming to Cheyenne to remain till repairs can be made. On a visionary whim and a $50 bet, Dr. Horatio Nelson Jackson became the first person to drive an automobile across the continent. Thanks! At Mountain Home, Idaho they veered from the Oregon Trail for the first time since near the California border and turned south glancing by the southern edge of the Sawtooth Mountains. It started with an animated chat and a $50 bet over drinks at the University Club in San Francisco 100 years ago and culminated in a bumpy cross- country car trip on rudimentary roads with a bicycle mechanic and a dog wearing goggles riding shotgun. He also writes about the cannabis industry, outdoor adventure, Native American issues and the culture of the West. He purchased a 1903 Winton The finishing dash over the plains to the East Coast was as much a struggle with the "buffalo wallows" as it was with the car, but in the end Jackson was not to be denied. Its not until they reach Iowa that they finally begin to travel at a decent unimpeded speed, averaging nearly 150 miles per day. Horatio Nelson Jackson, a physician and automobile pioneer, and Sewall Crocker arrive in New York on July 26, 1903, completing the first continental crossing by car, a journey prompted by a. After delivering their luggage to the section boss we started on for Bitter Creek, crossing two rivers over the railroad bridge. The Jackson-Crocker trip excited people across the nation. The trouble started with a flat tire near Hayward and, from then on, he and Crocker were alternately working on the car, pulling it out of mud holes, teetering on the edge of cliffs or simply getting lost. The experiences and adventures of the trip have been of an exciting nature, which may be better understood when it is known that he traveled 3,000 miles through a country never before touched by an automobile. But this newfangled automobile enticed Americans with two things they wanted most: freedom and mobility. Jackson and Crocker opted to start out following the railroad north into Oregon. The film features many old songs, framed by a popular number from 1914 called "He'd Have to Get Under Get Out and Get Under (to Fix Up His Automobile)". LOS ANGELES, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- On May 23, 1903, Horatio Nelson Jackson was just two days into his grand adventure of becoming the first person . It took five months, and covered more than 10,000 miles. Youre going to love it here. After Cheyenne, Jackson and Horatio both knew that the hard part of the journey was now behind them. A picture of Horatios dog, Bud, wearing driving goggles, caught my attention first. On June 6th however, the car finally suffered a severe mechanical issue forcing them to stop all forward progress near Burns, Oregon for several days. They were facing a daunting task. They are all like a lot of kids I have made arrangements to have the Winton agent at New York to take you up the Hudson to meet me. [14][15], The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Major (Medical Corps) Horatio N. Jackson, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with 313th Infantry Regiment (attached), 79th Division, A. E. F., near Montfaucon, France, September 26-29, 1918. - Behind Every Day, rubber mackintoshes for themselves and the car (remember no roof, no windshield! Im Sheila - a wife, mom to 3, and favorite human of a slightly-neurotic dog. The idea of driving across the country captured the imagination of millions of Americans. The Pres of the firm with his associates came out & we had quite a procession into the city. Jackson was possessed of a deep thirst for adventure, and his remarkable story chronicles the very beginning of the restless road trips that soon became a way of life in America. The public's perception of this newfangled conveyance took a deep public relations dive on Sept. 13, 1899, when Henry H. Bliss stepped off a streetcar in Manhattan and was flattened by an electric-powered taxicab, becoming the first automobile fatality in the country. This added several hundred miles to their route but they hoped to avoid the problems that Alexander Winton had faced in the desert sands of Nevada. Keep reading The Pony Express is a well-known American mail delivery service of the early 1860s. Let's share the joy of discovery together. At Mountain Home, Idaho, citizens warned them that the Oregon Trail was not good further east, so Jackson and Crocker veered off their original course along the southern edge of the Sawtooth Mountains. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Long distance travel was done by train. By all accounts,Horatios bet was one made in the innocence of drunken exuberance. Crocker suggested that Jackson buy a Winton car. Indeed had a flying machine lit down in their midst it would not have created greater astonishment. [6] When their tires blew out they were required to wind rope around the wheels. Incidentally, half a ton of Nebraska clay, which it has gathered during the past few days, will be removed Monday Eve.Darling Swipes:While I think of it I want you to order two full sets more of the kodak pictures & have one set sent to Mrs. B. D. Crocker Tacoma, Wash. Keep the other set for me & bring all pictures & photos to N.Y. when you come to meet me there that is if you care to come.Well old girl I have brought the car to its birthplace & a great reception it got. Hmm, perhaps youve never stopped to think about it before. Even before we had cars, Americans have been drawn out to explore the unknown horizons. My darling Swipes,Just a line to say that I am still alive Our things arrived this morning & we held divine services in the Blacksmith shop. ", "Col. Nelson Jackson: The Man Who Spent $8,000 to Win a $50 Bet" Martin Sheridan. Horatio's Journey Marker marker is listed in this topic list: Roads & Vehicles. Traveled at 40 mph, and "said they sometimes spurted up to 60 miles an hour.". While it was neither, the people's curiosity had been aroused from a report that an automobile was coming this way, and that if they wished to see it pass it was necessary to have a seat in the front row, otherwise it might go through at the rate of 90 miles an hour, and would be out of sight before they could run a block.It drove in sight at just 4 o'clock and the crowds surged forward to get a first look at a real live auto, a machine that nine-tenths of the people of Lake county had never seen. "The majority opinion expressed was that, save for short distances, the automobile was an unreliable novelty," Jackson later wrote. Jackson was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on March 25, 1872, a son of Samuel Nelson Jackson (1838-1913) and Mary Anne (Parkyn) Jackson (1843-1916). The technology nevertheless began to catch on, slowly. They left from New York and traveled so slowly that a one-armed bicyclist who started 10 days after them passed them before they made it to Syracuse at which point they abandoned the attempt. Crocker Will Start this Morning on Automobile Trip They Hope Will End in New York. In 1903, Horatio Nelson Jackson, a doctor from Vermont, was in San Francisco with his wife when he made a bet. Postcard from the mid-1920s of a scene near Pocatello, Idaho before the road was officially named U.S. Highway 30.; (map on right) Route of Horatio's journey, arriving in Soda Springs June 16, 1903. You have done everything in the world to make me happy.I shall just tear up the ground until I can be with you. After one harrowing drive over a stretch of narrow, bumpy road in the Cascade range, the two men noticed their cooking utensils had jiggled out. Basin & Range is the premier resource for living the Active Outdoor Western Lifestyle. 2023 Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). 1899 -Louise and John Davis made the first known attempt to drive a car from coast to coast. The automobile with Jackson and Crocker, crossing the continent, which left here Thursday was badly smashed up twelve miles east of this city on a smooth road while running twenty five miles an hour. Louise Davis wrote of their attempt, The automobile is a treacherous animal for a long trip.. But, 2 days after the bet, Horatiofinalized the purchase of his first car, a Winton that he dubbed The Vermont after his home state. It got people thinking about long-distance highways.". Want to know what happened? He also had the sense to hire a good bicycle-turned-car mechanic in Crocker. "I had," he later recalled, "succumbed completely to a primary enthusiasm for the newfangled horseless buggy.". Our car will now be as good as new.We have had hard luck, but I think it all came at once. Horatio's Drive America's First Road Trip In the spring of 1903, on a whim and a fifty-dollar bet, Dr. Horatio Nelson Jackson set off from San Francisco in a 20-horsepower Winton touring car hoping to become the first person to cross the United States in the new-fangled "horseless carriage." The possibilities of the open road What natural wonder will we see today? Marker is on Soda Point Power Plant Road near Reservoir Road, on the right when traveling south. On our way back we were stopped by a man and asked if I didnt want a dog for a mascot. In 1903, Dr. Horatio Nelson Jackson single handedly silenced a conversation taking place at the San Francisco University Club. The cross-country trip, which now takes about two days if you drive nonstop. Once underway again, it was only 3 days later that they ran out of oil. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), A Sky Full of Adventure at the Balloon Museum, The Right Word Peter Roget and His Thesaurus, Mosquitos - What are they good for? Yesterday the framer drove in for miles to see my machine and there has been a hundred people around the livery stable since our arrival. "HORATIO CAM" DIGITAL FOOTAGE Allen Moore ASSOCIATE PRODUCER Susanna Steisel COORDINATING PRODUCER Pam Tubridy Baucom FIELD PRODUCER Craig Mellish NARRATED BY Keith David THE VOICE OF HORATIO. (1) 'Bud,' a stray American bulldog, joined the journey. Thanks for stopping by my campfire to share a story. After 63 days on the road, the expedition reached New York. At the next available stop they outfitted Bud with a pair of goggles which Bud wore without fuss for most of the rest of the journey. The rough and tumble wagon trails which they followed, combined with the noisiness of their Winton, rendered them unable to tell when they would lose valuable items off the back of the car. One hundred years later, another doctor is following in Jackson's patched tire tracks. Here they prepare to light the acetylene gas headlamps. On May 23, 1903 the car was transported by ferry from San Francisco to Oakland and pointed eastward. "They've never seen an automobile. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Sign up to get updates about the film and future projects from Ken Burns and Florentine Films. Outside of major cities, spotting a car then was almost the equivalent of seeing a UFO today. (You can see a few clips on the PBS website.) "Ocean to Ocean in an Automobile Car," Stephen Sears, Bud grew so accustomed to his riding goggles that "he would not begin the day's drive without them. H. Nelson Jackson (Vermont physician) In the spring of 1903, at a time when many people thought that the automotive industry had no future and that cars were merely an invention aimed at fun, Jackson accepted a $50 bet to prove that it was possible to drive a car from San Francisco to New York City. Bud was a young, light-colored bulldog who immediately added life to the journey. There are a few windmill museums in the world and Ive been lucky enough to visit one. Or sometimes I just need to, Read More The Right Word Peter Roget and His ThesaurusContinue, If youve never heard of Snowflake Bentley, then Ive got a treat for you! Hi! ), additional tanks to hold extra oil and gasoline for emergencies. The list price 100 years ago for Jackson's 1903 Winton Touring Car was $2,500, about $50,000 in today's money. African American History Curatorial Collective. ), coats and sweaters and two small suitcases for their clothes, a set of tools including two jacks, a spade, and a firemans ax, a block and tackle with 150 feet of hemp rope, a small Kodak camera to record his trip (this just warms my little memory-keeping heart! more than 30 times. They would finally begin to make up much needed time after so many days spent waiting for parts, repairs and money back in the Rocky Mountain high country. Bud became an efficient watchman and was left in front seat at all stops to guard the car and equipment. We had no trouble in crossing railroad bridges With practice, bumping over bridge ties is no great task. She extracted the Maxwell from washouts and mudholes with block and tackle, a jack, even fence rails under the wheels. Have you ever wondered about the first cross-country road trip? The threat of the other teams would spur Jackson and Horatio on, pushing them to step up their pace across the unending Great Plains of Nebraska and beyond. Proper roads were so few and far between at this point, that there were no maps. What there was however, was a loose patchwork of wagon and horse trails connecting the sparse fabric of humanity. I feel more confident that I can make New YorkWe are causing a great sensation along the road it is the first machine that has ever gone over these mountains. His arrival in New York City, after every imaginable breakdown and delay, proved that the "horseless . All Rights Reserved. The jaunt will not only be a trip back in history, but a clash of early 20th and 21st century technologies. With them they brought little more than a couple of coats, some protective canvas suits, a couple of sleeping bags, some blankets, canteens, a water bag, an ax, a shovel, a telescope, some bicycle repair tools, a few spare parts, a block and tackle, extra cans gasoline and oil, a camera, a rifle, a shotgun, and a couple of pistols. In 1916, a car covered its entire length in just 5 days so much faster than that first trip across the country! Jackson had spent Horatio Nelson Jackson died on January 14, 1955, at the age of 82. Jackson decided to give it a try. As the nineteenth century came to an end, there were only 8,000 cars in the United States compared to 14 million horses. Sewall Crocker was a 22 year-old former bicycle racer who had been working in a gas engine factory when Dr. Jackson hired him to be the mechanic and co-driver for the journey. But only 15 miles (24km) into the journey, the car blew a tire. The party went to the Hollenden Hotel for a clean-up and for supper while the faithful bull dog mascot remained in charge and fought flies and kept off inquisitive newsboys. It was also the same year that the "Frontier" in America was considered closed. He twice ran for Governor of Vermont. In 1909, Alice Huyler Ramsey, of Hackensack, New Jersey, became the first woman to drive across the United States. This post contains affiliate links. "[Horatio Nelson Jackson], My darling Girl: We have crossed the mountains & dont expect to come to anymore until we get into Idaho. Heeding the failed attempt by automobile pioneer Alexander Winton (founder of the Winton Motor Carriage Company, which manufactured Jackson's car) to cross the deserts of Nevada and Utah, Jackson decided to take a more northerly route through the Sacramento Valley and along the Oregon Trail. All attempts heretofore to go overland in an automobile have come to grief either through the machines breaking down or because long stretches of sand were encountered through which the horseless carriages could make no headway. 2023 Behind Every Day - WordPress Theme by Kadence WP. An automobile trip across the continent that will be watched with a great deal of interest will start from this city this morning. His traveling companions were Sewall K. Crocker and a bulldog, Bud. 15 miles into the journey, they blew the first of what would be many, many tires. WhenWorld War Ibroke out, Jackson was considered too old to serve, but he contactedPresident Theodore Roosevelt and volunteered to became a commissioned officer. Somewhere along this route, Jackson lost a pair of his glasses. "At the time they made the trip, there was a perception that the American frontier was closed. The thick coating of mud gave evidence that it had been somewhere and that somewhere a long way off. Browse letters written by Horatio Nelson Jackson to his wife while on the road, and newspaper articles written about Jackson's epic trip. ", Bud, wrote Jackson, was "the one member of (our) trio who used no profanity on the entire trip.". Hi, Im Sheila laid-back, sometimes creative, a little curious, and always ready for a last-minute adventure. 42 38.862 N, 111 42.124 W. Marker is near Soda Springs, Idaho, in Caribou County. We took that road for miles and then it came to a dead end at an isolated farmhouse. In 1903, H. Nelson Jackson and Sewall K. Crocker completed the first motor trip across the United States in this car, which Jackson named for his home state. Darling SwipesOn our arrival here [I] was much surprised to find a man from the factory with a letter congratulating me and stating that they were willing to place men along the line with supplies at their expense.I have informed them that we have made the trip so far without their assistance & thought that perhaps [we] two greenhorns could do the rest of it. Jackson decided to take a more northerly route. Enough gasoline can be carried to run the machine 250 miles. With lots of love to all I am yours.NelsonP.S. When night came on we made camp beside the car, and having lost our cooking outfit and provisions, and [it] being an uninhabited region went to bed without any supper. On their arrival, the mud besmirched and travel stained vehicle which had borne them so faithfully and sturdily over fifty-six hundred miles of roads between the Pacific and the Atlantic was housed in a garage in West 58th Street. "I wanted paw and maw and my husband to see you," she said. [6] Newspapers at the time gave a variety of stories of how Bud was acquired, including that he was stolen; in a letter to his wife, Nelson said a man sold him the dog for $15[9] (equivalent to $452 in 2021[3]). There had to be an easier way to win a $50 bet. In 1903, he and driving partner Sewall K. Crocker became the first people to drive an automobile across the United States. Jackson and S.K. A broken mud guard and a sprung front axle alone attested the hard knocks it had had on its long journey. She returned home by train, allowing him to take his adventure by automobile. Shortly after returning to the road, both of the brothers' vehicles broke down, and Jackson towed them both home with the Vermont. This allowed them to avoid the higher passes in the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains. With 146 illustrations and 1 map Read more Print length 192 pages Language English It had no windshield and no top. The Lincoln Highway was the first transcontinental motor route, created in 1913. To commemorate Jackson and Crocker's trip, a rerun of the approximate route in a similar 1903 vintage car will start in San Francisco on June 17 and finish the same day as the original 1903 drive, in New York City on July 26. After driving the distance, they moved the path back in front of the car, repeating the process until they cleared the area. Click on each stop of the journey to learn. Dr. H. Nelson Jackson and Sewall K. Crocker (and Bud!) Ill admit, I hadnt given it much thought myself despite my own epic road trip history. It has been an awful long time to us and I shall be mighty glad when we are on the way again and unless another serious accident happens we ought to be able to make good time across these plainsWell, tomorrow is our anniversary & I wish I could be with you. There are no maps, no roads, no repair shops. (2) A team of horses rescued the car from being swallowed by quicksand. Nell Richardson, Alice Burke, and the Golden Flier, 1916. [6], Jackson continued to reside in Burlington, Vermont, with his wife Bertha and Bud the dog. Explore a chronology of the invention of the automobile. His two brothers, each driving his own automobile, came to help him get going again. for many, many years. Jackson was unable to buy a new tire, but purchased some used inner tubes. "Horatio's Drive: America's First Road Trip", Learn how and when to remove this template message, He'd Have to Get Under Get Out and Get Under (to Fix Up His Automobile), The Shakers: Hands to Work, Hearts to God, Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio, Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery, Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony, Horatio's Drive: America's First Road Trip, Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Horatio%27s_Drive:_America%27s_First_Road_Trip&oldid=1107453344, Documentary films about United States history, Articles needing additional references from May 2019, All articles needing additional references, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 30 August 2022, at 02:26. completed the first transcontinental automobile trip, from San Francisco to New York, in 63 days, 12 hours and 30 minutes. As an indication of how slow this trip would turn out to be, the first stop was a few blocks east of the Palace Hotel -- the San Francisco-Oakland ferry terminal. Keep in mind that most of what we knew about getting around the countryside at this time was oriented around the range of travel comfortable for your horse which on average was onlyabout 10-20 miles. Way out West: H. Nelson Jackson at the wheel of his Winton. This we did the result being that we ran across the desert to Swanton Falls a distance, out of our way, 38 miles. The rough trek towards Oregon required them to haul the car across deep streams with the block and tackle. "The rubber tires on the machine were somewhat worn and a new supply was ordered from the East by telegraph to be sent to this place. Despite mud, washouts, breakdowns, and a lack of roads and bridges in the West, they finished their trip in 63 days. He is a mighty good man.I am fine and the only trouble is I miss you so.Nelson, We met a red-haired young woman riding along on a white horse. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. took Jackson 63 days, cost him $8,000 and left a transcontinental trail littered with broken parts, tools, clothes, flat tires and tears. Ramseys sisters-in-law and a friend accompanied her on the trip from New York to San Francisco. Location. One hundred years ago, on May 23, 1903, an eccentric doctor from Vermont named Horatio Nelson Jackson set off from San Francisco in a 20-horsepower Winton touring car, hoping to become the first . This is a carousel. Horatio Jackson's Winton in the Smithsonian. If you click & make a purchase, I receive a commission! [12] While attached to the 313th Infantry, 79th Division as a surgeon, Jackson was wounded near Montfaucon during the MeuseArgonne Offensive.