Horatio Nelson Jackson

Horatio Nelson Jackson (1872 – January 14, 1955) was the first person to drive an automobile across the United States, an early example of rallying (albeit with just two other competitors).

He was a physician who had practiced for a few years in the towns of Brattleboro and Burlington, Vermont. He married Bertha Richardson Wells in 1899, who was the daughter of one of the richest men in Vermont, the founder of Payne's Celery Compound, a popular cure-all that was twenty percent grain alcohol.

Cross-country drive

Wager and preparation

Jackson was a 31-year-old auto enthusiast who differed with the then-prevailing wisdom that the automobile was a passing fad and the plaything of rich men. While in San Francisco's University Club as a guest on May 18, 1903, he agreed to a $50 wager ($1065.17 in 2005 dollars) to prove that a car could be driven across the country. He accepted even though he did not own a car, had practically no experience driving, and had no maps to follow. Jackson and his wife planned to return to their Burlington, Vermont home in a few days anyway and both had been taking automobile driving lessons while in San Francisco. She returned home by train, allowing him to take his adventure by automobile.

Jackson convinced a young mechanic and chauffeur, Sewall K. Crocker, to serve as his travel companion, mechanic, and backup driver. Crocker suggested that Doctor Jackson buy a Winton Motor Carriage Company car. He bought a slightly used Winton, which he named the "Vermont", after his home state, bade his wife goodbye, and left San Francisco on May 23, carrying coats, canvas protective suits, sleeping bags, blankets, canteens, a water bag, an axe, a shovel, a telescope, tools, spare parts, a block and tackle, cans for extra gasoline and oil, a camera, a rifle, a shotgun and pistols.

Heeding the failed attempt by automobile pioneer Alexander Winton (founder of the Winton Motor Carriage Company) to cross the Southwestern desert, Jackson decided to take a more northerly route. A route through the Sacramento Valley and along the Oregon Trail also allowed them to avoid the higher passes in the Rocky Mountains.

Journey

The car was transported by ferry from San Francisco to Oakland and points eastward. But only fifteen miles into the journey, the car blew a tire. 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.

The second night of their journey, they replaced the side lanterns, having discovered on the first night that they were too dim. They stopped early in Sacramento to accomplish this. The duo was assisted in Sacramento by bicyclists who offered them road maps. Jackson was unable to buy a new tire, but purchased some used inner tubes.

Going northwards out of Sacramento, the noise of the car covered the fact that the duo's cooking gear was falling off. They were also given a 108-mile misdirection by a woman so that she could send them to the spot where her family could see an automobile.

The rough trek towards Oregon required them to haul the car across deep streams with the block and tackle. Somewhere along this route, Jackson lost his glasses. They were also forced to pay a $4 ($85.21 in 2005 dollars) toll by an entrepreneur in order to cross his property. When their tires blew out they were required to wind rope around the wheels. 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.

Reaching Alturas, California, Jackson and Crocker stopped to wait for the tires. They offered locals rides in the car in exchange for a "wild west show". When the tires failed to materialize, however, they continued on after a three-day wait.

On June 6, the car broke down, and they had to be towed to a nearby ranch by a cowboy. Crocker made repairs, but a fuel leak caused them to lose all of their available gasoline, and Jackson rented a bicycle to travel 25 miles to Burns, Oregon for fuel. After suffering a flat tire on the bicycle, he returned with fuel, and they returned to Burns to fill up.

On June 9, outside of Vale, Oregon, the "Vermont" ran out of oil. 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. The next day they arrived in Ontario, Oregon, where supplies waited for them.

Somewhere near Caldwell, Idaho, Jackson and Crocker obtained a bulldog named Bud. Newspapers at the time gave a variety of stories of how he was acquired including that he was stolen. In a letter to his wife, Nelson said a man sold him the dog for $15 ($319.55 today). It turned out that the dusty alkali flats the travelers encountered would bother Bud's eyes so much that Jackson eventually put goggles over the dog's eyes (the Winton had neither a roof nor windshield). At one point, Bud drank bad water and became ill, but survived.

At this point, the trio became celebrities. The press came out at every stop to take their picture and conduct interviews. 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. At Hailey, Idaho, Crocker wired the Winton Company for more parts.

On June 16, somewhere in Idaho, Jackson's coat, containing most of the travelers' money, fell off and was not found. At their next stop, Jackson had to wire his wife to send them money to Cheyenne, Wyoming. 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.

The travelers eventually reached Omaha, Nebraska on July 12. From there on, they were able to use a few paved roads, and their trip was much easier. They arrived in New York City on July 26, 1903, almost two months after they left San Francisco. Their trip expended over 800 gallons of gasoline.

After leaving New York City Jackson joined his wife and drove home to Vermont. Nearing 15 miles from home his car once again broke down. His two brothers came and offered to help him get going again, each driving their own automobiles. Shortly after returning on the road, both of his brothers' vehicles broke down, and Jackson offered to tow them both with the Winton. Upon reaching the threshold of Jackson's garage, the Winton's drive chain snapped, one of the few original parts never replaced during the entire journey.

Later life

Horatio Nelson Jackson eventually settled in Burlington, Vermont with his wife Bertha and Bud the dog. In Burlington he met President Theodore Roosevelt. When World War I broke out, Jackson was considered too old, but he contacted Roosevelt, and was commissioned an officer. Following the war, he became one of the founders of the American Legion, and twice ran for Governor of Vermont. He owned the "Burlington Daily News" and radio station WCAX and owned a bank. At one point he was ticketed for exceeding the 6 mph speed limit in Burlington.

The Vermont

Today the Jackon's Winton, the "Vermont", resides in the Smithsonian Institution and stands as a monument to the American spirit of travel.

Documentary

Documentary film maker Ken Burns has produced a film, "Horatio's Drive", for PBS. The film is based on the book of the same name by Dayton Duncan. Tom Hanks provided the voice-over narration for Horatio Nelson Jackson. 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)".

External links

*" [http://www.pbs.org/horatio/ Horatio's Drive] "