The First Road Trip Across America
A few years ago, PBS aired a documentary by Ken Burns, called Horatio’s Drive, about the first time a car was driven from coast-to-coast across the United States. It’s a pretty charming tale, and fun to consider how very different an undertaking it is today.
Dr. Horatio Nelson Jackson
Bud rode shotgun
When Dr. Horatio Nelson Jackson started out on his trip in early 1903, there were only 150 miles of paved road in all of the United States; he had to drive his car on dirt roads, fields and streams. There were no gas stations along Horatio’s drive, no auto shops to get spare parts, no motels to stay during the night. The horseless carriage was still a novelty, and his car had no roof or windshield; a cross-country trip on a riding lawnmower would be more comfortable (and reliable).
Horatio recruited two companions, the first road buddies: a mechanic, and a dog. The dog, named Bud, was picked up early on in the trip, and turned out to be a great dog: he even wore goggles like a road-tested champ. He was “the one member of [the] trio who used no profanity on the entire trip.”
What drove him to such a mad undertaking? A $50 bet in a San Francisco bar that it couldn’t be done.
[Horatio's Drive at PBS.com]
Horatio’s Drive: America’s First Road Trip