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Lakeview, Oregon
June 2nd, 1903
Jackson and Crocker had no choice now but to return to Lakeview and wait for the stage to reach them with the supplies they had ordered from San Francisco. Late on the night of June 5th, the tires, batteries and cyclometer finally arrived — and by early the next morning, Jackson and Crocker had everything ready. Ahead of them lay nearly 300 miles of desert, an area that had the added distinction of being farther from a railroad than any other place in the United States. Jackson hoped to cross it in two days and reach Ontario, Oregon where he had telegraphed ahead for more tires and supplies to be waiting for him at the train station. Newspaper Article Lakeview County Examiner, 6/4/03 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 that 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. It drove in sight at just 4 o'clock and the crowds surged forward to get a first look at a real live auto, a machine that nine-tenths of the people of Lake county had never seen. The machine drove up in front of the Hotel Lakeview and stopped. The Chauffeur inquired for a blacksmith shop, having had a mishap coming over the rough roads.
Excerpted from Horatio's Drive: America's First Road Trip by Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns, a Borzoi Book published by Alfred A. Knopf. Copyright © 2003 by The American Lives II Film Project, LLC. All rights reserved.
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