By Ron Brown
June 5, 2009
LAKEVIEW, Ore. - In 1903, a pioneer motorist named Horatio Jackson discovered Lakeview on his way to becoming the first car owner to wrestle a horseless carriage from coast to coast.
Jackson was a 31-year-old doctor who had given up his practice in Vermont to rest in San Francisco from a mild case of tuberculosis. Still full of energy and optimism, in May 1903, he took up a $50 bar-room challenge that he could drive across the country in an automobile. He didn't even have one yet. Four days later, after putting his wife on the train home, he left San Francisco. Along with bicycle racer/mechanic Sewall K. Crocker, and a slightly used two cylinder, 20 horsepower Winton automobile, he headed north for Oregon, on his way east. The idea was to avoid the Sierras and Nevada Desert and to take a northern route to New York City and the Atlantic Coast.
He named the car 'The Vermont' in honor of his home state. On May 29th, they made it to Alturas, after getting lost, breaking down several times, and using the only spare tire. After several days waiting for tires, Jackson decided he couldn't wait anymore and took off for Lakeview, Oregon, despite having to wrap his worn tires in rawhide and rope. But a few miles out of Alturas, the rough road caused a front spring to break, and the car limped into Lakeview that afternoon, with throngs of people waiting to see their first automobile ever. The Lake County Examiner reported:
"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. While it was neither, the people's curiosity had been aroused from a report than 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."
With the broken spring, Jackson and Crocker headed straight for Arzner Brothers Blacksmith Shop for repairs. Joseph Arzner was Sherrain Glenn's great grandfather, who fixed the Winton car and got it back on the road again.
"The car broke down constantly. It was having a hard time traveling from Alturas to Lakeview. He had trouble and it broke down and they worked on it at the blacksmith shop. My great grandfather, he was always real grumpy that people ought to have a horse anyway. They shouldn't have a car. This was quite strange to come through," says Glenn.
It took a couple days to get the car ready, but by June 3rd, they headed north to Burns, only to blow a tire and have to return to town to fix that. The next day a stagecoach arrived with new tires, batteries and a cyclometer, used to measure the miles. Early on the 5th, they took off again, with some 300 miles of desert ahead. Dust and car troubles forced them to take a tow from a cowboy and his horse, to a ranch house, where they finally got the car going again and headed along the shores of Lake Abert. Passing wild animals and homesteaders heading to the desert, they finally got to Burns five days after arriving in Lakeview. Everywhere they went people turned out to see their first automobile.
By June 10th, 19 days into the trip, the Vermont, with Jackson and Crocker on board, finally reached the Idaho border. But soon they learned several other makers, including Packard and Oldsmobile, had cars on the trail also hoping to be the first to cross the country.
However, Jackson made it first. He picked up company support , a dog named Bud, and fans along the way, and on July 26th he finished the 6,000 mile trip at an average of about a hundred miles a day. Jackson was reported saying it cost him about $8,000 dollars to win the $50 bet.
The car is now in the Smithsonian.
In 2003, in honor of the 100th anniversary of Horatio Jackson's drive, noted historian Ken Burns and filmmaker Dayton Duncan produced a documentary film about the trip. It aired on PBS, and a book and video are available chronicling the trip that made auto history.
