The Route :: 1909
- 2009
- 1909
“June the ninth, 1909 was the actual date of the start of my historic automobile trek from New York to San Francisco. My husband’s two sisters, Nettie Powell and Margaret Atwood, and a younger, unattached friend, Hermine Jahns were my companions.
“By this time there was no longer even hope that we would have a pleasant day for our take-off. It was pouring rain!”
“I am a subscriber to the policy expressed by Cornelia Otis Skinner who says ‘If you’re going to go, go!’ We were there to start a trip which was to bring me the distinction of being the first woman to drive an automobile from New York to San Francisco. We had a job to do. So let’s get at it, I thought somewhat impatiently.”
Excerpted from the book “Veil, Duster and Tire Iron” by Alice Huyler Ramsey (1961).
“At Albany we were to meet our advance agent, John D. Murphy, automobile editor of the Boston Herald. We had learned he had been engaged by the Company to follow along our route each day, usually by train, arrive at our destination ahead of us and obtain accommodations at a hotel.”
Excerpted from the book “Veil, Duster and Tire Iron” by Alice Huyler Ramsey (1961).
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Alice Ramsey (driver), Nettie Powell, Margaret Atwood and Hermine Jahns in the 1909 Maxwell DA. The book is Alice’s travelogue which she self-published in 1961.
“At Willoughby, twenty miles east of Cleveland, Mr. Bleasdale, Mr. Charles Carpenter and a group of reporters eagerly awaited our arrival. How long had they been there?…An interesting innovation in Cleveland was the brick street paving on Euclid Avenue. In the East we were accustomed to the use of brick in the building of houses, but we had never before seen it used for road surfaces.”
Excerpted from the book “Veil, Duster and Tire Iron” by Alice Huyler Ramsey (1961).
“As we departed from the Windy City we trustfully hoped for fair weather to continue. A crowd gathered along Michigan Avenue near the Maxwell showroom to watch us leave. Our auto had now acquired slightly more equipment in the way of a stout towing rope, a block and tackle, and a short shovel. The bystanders appeared fascinated by the sturdy look of the vehicle so outfitted.”
“In that section of the city the Western Union telegraph service was temporarily at a standstill. Not a strike-not in those days. Just the delivery boy standing by the curb, dumbfounded-completely absorbed in the momentous departure of this automobile containing but four women!”
Excerpted from the book “Veil, Duster and Tire Iron” by Alice Huyler Ramsey (1961).
“Silence reigned.It was a great emotional crisis. I had a pretty anxious time myself. But I kept reminding my subconscious mind that the bridge had been there for many springs and there was no reason why it should choose this particular time to collapse! The bridge obliged by reacting to such positive, trustful thinking and we reached the other end of it in safety and with sincere relief. And thereby concluded a definite division of our Saga of Adventure. Now, at last, we were WEST!”
Excerpted from the book “Veil, Duster and Tire Iron” by Alice Huyler Ramsey (1961).
“I hated to pump a tire. With all those able-bodied men standing around I would hate to waste their strength while I broke my back unnecessarily! So with a sly amused smile I resumed: ‘But this isn’t an exclusive party. You may watch, if you like. And I might let you pump!’”
“While this conversation was in progress, I had removed my coat and, crawling far enough under the cases at the rear, had placed the jack under the axle and raised the left rear tire off the ground. The men stood around feeling a little foolish and inept, no doubt, but respected my point of view on the matter. Maybe they were even a little curious, too.”
Excerpted from the book “Veil, Duster and Tire Iron” by Alice Huyler Ramsey (1961).
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And how about this for a main road across the U.S.A?
Photo and caption from the book “Veil, Duster and Tire Iron” by Alice Huyler Ramsey (1961).
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How could they make the Lincoln highway out of that?
Photo and caption from the book “Veil, Duster and Tire Iron” by Alice Huyler Ramsey (1961).
“It wasn’t going to be easy to sleep all night with a steering whell poking into my abdomen with no chance to change position! But the exhaustion caused by driving for hours through that heavy mud, hanging on to a wheel stubbornly resisting me all the while (no power-steering then) proved to be a blessing in disguise, for I believe I slept for several hours.”
Excerpted from the book “Veil, Duster and Tire Iron” by Alice Huyler Ramsey (1961).
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Left: the undulating foothills of the Rockies, approaching Cheyenne, Wyoming. Right: the road follows a snake-like path near the railroad — our principal link with civilization across Wyoming.
Excerpted from the book “Veil, Duster and Tire Iron” by Alice Huyler Ramsey (1961).
“We ran along for miles on the squirmy trail, just two packed tracks for our wheels, curving around through the sagebrush. Suddenly we felt a tremendous bump at the front and immediately the entire front end and radiator were aimed at an angle toward the ground. I got out to look things over. It was an awful-looking sight to behold! The front wheels were spread wide apart as if they never wanted to have anything to do with each other and certainly had no intention of working in harmony again.”
Excerpted from the book “Veil, Duster and Tire Iron” by Alice Huyler Ramsey (1961).
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In Rawhide, Nevada, one buys oil at the general store.
Photo and caption from the book “Veil, Duster and Tire Iron” by Alice Huyler Ramsey (1961).
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Left: waiting in Oakland, California for the ferry to San Francisco — the atainment of our goal. Right: the four of us — triumphant and happy.
Photo and caption from the book “Veil, Duster and Tire Iron” by Alice Huyler Ramsey (1961).