In 1903 there were only 150 miles of paved roads in the entire nation and most people had never seen a "horseless buggy" - but that did not stop Horatio Nelson Jackson, a 31-year-old Vermont doctor, who impulsively bet $50 that he could drive his 20-horsepower automobile from San Francisco to New York City. Many days of the journey, especially in the beginning, were spent parked in a town awaiting replacement parts to arrive via stagecoach or train so they they could continue on. In Cheyenne, Wyoming, the trio took a short break as they waited for more money to come through the wire, and repaired yet another mechanical failure, this time to the wheel bearings. Of course, these guidebooks were only published in the more-populated East at the time. Here they prepare to light the acetylene gas headlamps. Crocker suggested that Jackson buy a Winton car. 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. [Horatio Nelson Jackson]. 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." His beat includes earthquake research, marine biology, wildfire science, nuclear testing, archaeology, wildlife and scientific exploration of land and sea. "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. Allegedly Jackson made a $50 bet that he could drive from San Francisco to New York in less than 90 days. Dr. Nelson has provided the very latest kind of gasoline machine, large and commodious and 20-horsepower. (2) A team of horses rescued the car from being swallowed by quicksand. 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. Just 4 days after declaring his intentions, he had found a car and a chauffeur. On July 26, 1903, Horatio Nelson Jackson, a 31-year-old Vermont doctor, and his 22-year-old mechanic, Sewall Crocker, became the first to cross the United States in an automobile. Driving Directions to Omaha, NE including road conditions, live traffic updates, and reviews of local businesses along the way. Dr. Jackson left his practice after a diagnosis of tuberculosis. Tom Hanks provided the voice-over narration for Horatio Nelson Jackson. The press came out at every stop to take their picture and conduct interviews. Yet the young retired doctor, along with a mechanical assistant and a dog, took up the . Jackson and Crocker face obstacle after obstacle on their trip. We only made 45 miles in our direct route. Nell Richardson, Alice Burke, and the Golden Flier, 1916. 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. Whether or not a bet was really made, it did happen rather suddenly. It took five months, and covered more than 10,000 miles. They have been very short & dear ones to me. I find it fascinating how similar my own road trip experiences were in some ways to the very first cross-country journey. The canine was quickly fitted with a pair of goggles and, from then on, got second billing only to the "whizz wagon," as one newspaper called the "Vermont. Tires, somewhat expectedly, continued to blow out forcing them at times to wind rope around the wheel so it could act as rudimentary tire but at least they could go on. "Horacio was the big guy on the road with a brand new car. $8,000 on the trip, including hotel rooms, gasoline, tires, parts, supplies, food, and the cost of the Winton. 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. Hi! After Cheyenne, Jackson and Horatio both knew that the hard part of the journey was now behind them. At the time there were only 150 miles of paved roads in the entire country, all of them within city limits. Jackson decided to give it a try. Here we were advised to changed our course a little and take the left hand road of the R. R. One old fellow said keep to the left road. 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. [6] Before reaching Cheyenne, however, the car's wheel bearings gave out, and Crocker had to talk a farmer into letting them have the wheel bearings of his mowing machine. It got people thinking about long-distance highways.". They helped prove that long-distance road travel was a realif expensive and difficultpossibility. Horatio Nelson Jackson departed San Francisco on May 23rd, 1903 for what was to become America's first ever road trip - and all because of a 50 dollar bet made just 5 days prior. The way the streets of Lakeview were lined with people Tuesday afternoon, one would think a circus was coming to town, or a 4th of July procession was about to pass. In addition to owning and publishing the Burlington Daily News, he was head of the Burlington Trust Company, and owned and operated radio station WCAX (now WVMT). "That's why I'm optimistic. completed the first transcontinental automobile trip, from San Francisco to New York, in 63 days, 12 hours and 30 minutes. Despite mud, washouts, breakdowns, and a lack of roads and bridges in the West, they finished their trip in 63 days. [1] He graduated with an MD degree from the University of Vermont in 1893, became a physician, and practiced in Brattleboro and Burlington. Sometimes, though, we had to hunt for five miles to find a place where we could get our machine on the track. On the second night, they stopped early in Sacramento and replaced them with a large spotlight mounted on the front of the Vermont. Like Jackson, Ramsey and her three female passengers packed a block and tackle and used it often in the muddy Midwest. [6] They were also forced to pay a $4 (equivalent to $121 in 2021[3]) toll by a land-owner in order to cross his property on a "bad, rocky, mountain road" as Jackson described it. With 146 illustrations and 1 map Read more Print length 192 pages Language English When we get there the worst will be over.I can run the car as well as Crocker & have rather surprised him We take 2 hours on and 2 off at the wheel. PBS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. I shall think of you a good deal tomorrow, as I always do. Horatio Nelson Jackson (March 25, 1872 - January 14, 1955) was an American physician and automobile pioneer. 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. Ill admit, I hadnt given it much thought myself despite my own epic road trip history. Jackson was seated in a gentleman's club when he overheard a discussion at another table about the impracticability of automobiles. Indeed had a flying machine lit down in their midst it would not have created greater astonishment. 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. We took that road for miles and then it came to a dead end at an isolated farmhouse. Jackson walked back to the town of Vale, Oregon to stock up on oil for this latestrepair. Between June 20 and 21, all three of them got lost in Wyoming, and went without food for 36 hours before finding a sheepherder who gave them a meal of roast lamb and boiled corn. Watch me now come to you.Nel. Horatio Nelson Jackson (March 25, 1872 - January 14, 1955) was an American automobile pioneer. (3) The car's 'cyclometer' fell off before crossing Idaho, leaving no way to tell how fast or how far they traveled for the remainder of the trip. Copyright20062023,Somerightsreserved. He also had the sense to hire a good bicycle-turned-car mechanic in Crocker. It was also the same year that the Frontier in America was consideredclosed. 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. Jackson had made it from San Francisco in 63 days, 12 hours, and 30 minutes - well within his wager of 90 days. This spur-of-the-moment trip, partially based on a bet, unknowingly turned into a race. He remained on duty until severely wounded by high-explosive shells, when he was obliged to evacuate.[16]. ", Bud, wrote Jackson, was "the one member of (our) trio who used no profanity on the entire trip.". All Rights Reserved. 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. At their next stop, Jackson had to wire his wife to send them money to Cheyenne, Wyoming. Horatio's Drive is the first chapter in our nation's great romance with the road. And no, it hadnt been lost for 158 years. Having resupplied the best they could, they struck back out onto the open roader,open range. 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. In 1903, he and driving partner Sewall K. Crocker became the first people to drive an automobile across the United States. used a block and tackle to pull the car out of mudholes. Crocker made repairs, but a fuel leak caused them to lose all of their available gasoline, and Jackson rented a bicycle for Crocker to travel 25 miles (40km) to Burns, Oregon, for fuel. In Idaho, Jackson acquired Bud, and the bulldog accompanied the pioneering motorists to the East Coast. Louise Davis wrote of their attempt, The automobile is a treacherous animal for a long trip.. The axle crank and two connecting rods broke and they had to send to the Cleveland factory to replace them. Jackson and Crockers trip inspired an organized movement to improve the nations roads and make them better for cars. It turned out that the dusty alkali flats the travelers encountered would bother Bud's eyes so much (the Vermont had neither a roof nor windshield) that Jackson eventually fitted him with a pair of goggles. Going northwards out of Sacramento, the noise of the car covered the fact that the duo's cooking gear was falling off.