Transcript

9.12.25 · History Hour

0:02
Speaker 1: Hello and welcome. This is a radioized history show and
0:07
I'm your host and reader, Joseph Bolt, happy to be
0:12
with you for this time. And before we begin, we
0:16
have to tell you that RADIOI is listener driven, so
0:21
that means you drive the show, and we welcome your
0:27
comments and suggestions about what we do. So if you
0:33
have any thoughts, please call us at eight five nine
0:37
four two two six three nine zero and let us
0:43
know what you are thinking. RADIOI is a reading service
0:49
intended for people who are blind or have other disabilities
0:53
that make it difficult to read printed material. I'll cite
0:59
the sources for today's readings as we go along, so
1:05
let's get started. On July sixteenth, nineteen sixteen, Woodrow Wilson
1:18
signed the first Federal Aid Road Act into law. The
1:25
act created the Bureau of Public Roads and allocated seventy
1:32
five million dollars for the next five years with federal
1:38
funds to pay states half the cost for building or
1:43
improving federal roads. At the time, there were more than
1:51
twenty one million horses, three and a half million cars,
1:58
and two hundred and fifty thousand trucks in the United States.
2:04
According to author Tom Lewis, During World War One, troops
2:13
drove new army trucks and material from factories in the
2:20
Midwest to eastern ports where they could be shipped to Europe.
2:28
On December nineteen, well in December rather nineteen seventeen, the
2:35
first convoy took three weeks to drive from Toledo, Ohio
2:42
to Baltimore. A few years later, in the early summer
2:48
of nineteen nineteen, Dwight Eisenhower was in a funk with
2:56
his wife and infant son lived having fifteen hundred miles
3:02
away in Denver. The twenty eight year old lieutenant colonel
3:08
stationed at Maryland's Camp Mead wasted away his considerable boredom
3:17
by playing bridge with his fellow soldiers and drowning his
3:23
sorrows about being kept stateside during World War One. Needing
3:30
a way to break out of his doldrums, the future
3:34
president found excitement in an endeavor still undertaken by millions today,
3:44
the Great American Road Trip. Upon hearing that two volunteer
3:51
tank officers from Camp Mead were needed to participate in
3:58
a coast to coast arry convoy to San Francisco, Eisenhower
4:05
immediately volunteered his services. It may not have offered a
4:12
young soldier the thrill of combat. But in nineteen nineteen,
4:18
a cross country road trip was indeed, as Eisenhower described it, quote,
4:26
a genuine adventure end quote. He goes on to say,
4:32
to those who have known only concrete highways, of gentle
4:37
grades and engineered curves, such a trip might seem humdrum,
4:45
And he wrote this in his book At Ease Stories
4:51
I tell to friends. In those days, we were not
4:55
sure it could be accomplished at all. This is this
4:58
road trip. Nothing of the sort had ever been attempted.
5:04
At the dawn of the motor age, drivers were more
5:09
apt to encounter roads to nowhere rather than the open road.
5:16
Few highways were paved, Dirt roads could be muddy, quagmires
5:23
or sun baked into teeth chattering ruts. Sixty miles an
5:30
hour remained a daredevil's dream, and many roads could only
5:36
be traversed at the pace of a brisk walk. The
5:41
War Department viewed the cross country caravan undertaken just months
5:47
after the end of World War One, as part victory
5:52
lap and part publicity stunt. Prodded by law by autos,
6:01
gasoline companies, and tire manufacturers. The military saw the convoy
6:08
as a way to both test the capabilities of the
6:12
Army's motor transport corps and highlight the poor state of
6:18
America's roads. What was called a zero milestone marker would
6:27
designate the spot from which the convoy set off in
6:34
DC's Lafayette Square, and in one early conception, that marker
6:42
was to be decorated with a map of Golden Highways,
6:48
the Long four system of perfect American roads. The route
6:54
the convoy would take was mostly along the Lincoln Highway,
7:01
the first major transcontinental motor route. The more than eighty
7:07
vehicles carried twenty four officers and two hundred and fifty
7:13
eight enlisted men. The cast of vehicles included forty six trucks,
7:22
ranging in size from three quarter ton Dodge light delivery
7:26
vans to massive macs with over five tons of carrying capacity.
7:36
Also included were sedans and other vehicles such as packards, rikers, garferds,
7:46
and four wheel drives. Two of the cargo trucks were
7:52
mobile machine shops, including spare parts and even a blacksmith shop,
8:01
and with filling stations only erratically available. The convoy brought
8:09
its own two tankers that carried seven hundred and fifty
8:15
gallons of gasoline each. Another tanker carried the same amount
8:22
of water. In terms of human support, five general motors
8:28
ambulances were joined by two ambulance trailers and four kitchen trailers.
8:39
The convoy left DC at one pm on July seventh,
8:45
nineteen nineteen. The caravan stretched for three miles. It took
8:52
the convoy the rest of the day to reach Frederick, Maryland,
8:58
where Eisenhower joined the group. In seven and a half hours,
9:04
they had traveled forty six miles, a drive that today
9:10
would take about an hour. From the very beginning of
9:15
the drive, the convoy encountered problems. On that first afternoon.
9:23
The convoy's trail mobile kitchen broke a coupling, and an
9:29
observation car broke a fan belt. The Militare Wrecker Wench,
9:37
a towing vehicle, started work the very first day. On
9:45
the second day, the convoy was delayed for two hours,
9:50
mostly due to wobbly bridges too dangerous to use, or
9:56
covered bridges that the trucks would not fit through. To
10:03
avoid these, sometimes the convoy took a detour. Sometimes it
10:09
simply forded whatever body of water the bridge was meant
10:13
to cross. The convoy halted repeatedly for stripped gears, boiled
10:20
over radiators, and vehicles stuck up to their hubs in mud.
10:27
The custom designed Militare tractor truck, which cost the military
10:31
forty thousand dollars, quickly proved its considerable worth in towing
10:37
vehicle after vehicle out of roadside ditches and mud holes
10:43
with its power winch. One night, the Militare even arrived
10:49
in camp with four trucks in tow. Banned concerts, street dances, banquets,
10:58
and endless speechify by local politicians greeted the two mile
11:04
long convoy as it rolled across the country. After just
11:09
a few days on the road, the convoy arrived in Greensburg, Pennsylvania,
11:15
and was met by a large party. Although the town's
11:20
population was approximately fifteen thousand, the crowd was estimated to
11:24
be three times that size. Veterans of every branch of
11:29
the military, including the Civil War and Spanish American War,
11:34
marched with those who had just returned from Europe, and
11:38
then they all sat down at long tables under the
11:42
trees to enjoy a clam bake. An open bar that
11:46
served lemonade. Prohibition had gone into effect just ten days.
11:51
Prior activities included boxing bouts, rifle shooting, and performances by
11:59
musicianians and magicians. Once the caravan crossed through Illinois, it
12:06
also left behind paved sections of the Lincoln Highway, the
12:10
transcontinental Road it had joined. In Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, scouts riding
12:18
a fleet of Harley Davidson and Indian motorcycles sped a
12:22
half hour in front of the convoy to inspect road
12:25
conditions and blaze the trail ahead with painted arrows. In Nebraska,
12:33
the trucks floundered in sand as slippery as ice. Outside
12:38
North Platte, twenty five trucks, including the Militare itself, slid
12:44
into a roadside ditch on one hellish stretch. It took
12:50
the convoy seven hours to cross two hundred yards of
12:55
quicksand two days were lost in Nebraska. On August eighth,
13:02
Governor Robert Carey and a host of other dignitaries met
13:07
the convoy at Tiny Hillsdale, Wyoming, seventeen miles east of Cheyenne,
13:14
to welcome them to that state. A Wild West show
13:19
was held in their honor at Frontier Park in Cheyenne.
13:24
Following the show. The soldiers stopped at Fort Russell for
13:28
a meal and the opportunity to bathe and rest. A
13:33
dance was also held in honor of the visitors in
13:37
appreciation of the distinctive welcoming the leader. A newspaper I
13:43
assume report explained that the convoy would carry cloth posters
13:52
proclaiming stop your roaming, try Cheyenne, Wyoming, and declaring that
14:00
Wyoming was spending seven million dollars on roads. Crossing Wyoming,
14:06
the convoy encountered daily breakdowns and obstacles. Two hour delays
14:12
to repair mechanical problems were not unusual. Much of their
14:17
route across southern Wyoming was not on roads at all,
14:22
but on the old Union Pacific Railroad right of way,
14:26
abandoned after eighteen ninety nine when the railroad had straightened
14:31
its routes and improved its grades. The old route was
14:36
often very winding, soft and sandy, with wobbling rickety bridges
14:43
and culverts the trucks broke through. Eisenhower and his friend
14:48
Major Brett enjoyed playing some practical jokes along the way,
14:53
especially enjoying the surprises they foisted on Easterners, like warning
15:01
them of hostile Indian attacks in western Wyoming. No such
15:06
attacks actually happened, of course. Another time Iked Ike rather
15:12
aimed a pistol in the general direction of the north
15:16
pole and fired to shoot a jack rabbit that he
15:22
had shot hours before and that Brett posed beside a
15:27
bush away from the road. Brett, to impress the Easterners,
15:33
proclaimed what an excellent shot. Ike was, holding the dead
15:38
rabbit by its ears at a distance to disguise its
15:42
stiff condition. The convoy left Evanston, Wyoming at twelve thirty
15:49
pm August seventeen, and crossed into Utah that afternoon. Conditions
15:54
grew even worse on Utah stretch of the Lincoln Highway,
15:57
which Eisenhower reported was quote one succession of dust ruts, pits,
16:03
and holes. Troops were forced to remove sand drifts from
16:08
the road, and vehicles became stuck repeatedly in the desert
16:12
where no rain had fallen for eighteen weeks. When dozens
16:17
of trucks mired themselves in the salt flats, the soldiers
16:22
used their collective muscle to tow them out by hand.
16:27
Like sun beaten pioneers. The troops suffered from a lack
16:31
of water, which was rationed to one cup for dinner
16:35
and another for overnight. The commander even posted guards around
16:40
the water tanker to prevent any pilfering until a shipment
16:44
of water from the Utah Highway Commission arrived, being pulled
16:49
by horses. Once in California, the convoy returned a pavement
16:57
and hit top speeds of ten miles per hour. After
17:02
being transported by ferry to the city's docks, the vehicles
17:07
paraded through the flag festooned streets of San Francisco to
17:12
the terminus of the Lincoln Highway, six days behind schedule.
17:18
The trip overall was a triumph, and the Governor of
17:22
California through a celibratory dinner featuring clam chowder, salmon, fried chicken,
17:28
sweet potatoes, Turkish melon, and cigars. The commemorative program noted
17:36
that it was impossible to think of the convoy without
17:40
remembering the hardship, privation and discouragement, and even death that
17:47
the forty nine ers had gone through just a few
17:50
decades before to accomplish the same goal. Traveling across the
17:55
country was no longer such a crazy idea. The caravan
18:01
of more than eighty trucks, cars, and motorcycles had traversed
18:04
three thousand, two hundred and forty two miles through eleven
18:08
states in sixty two days, with an average of fifty
18:13
two miles per day at an average of six miles
18:18
per hour. Over fifty percent of the miles traveled, roughly
18:24
almost eighteen hundred miles were over dirt roads, wheel paths,
18:28
mountain trails, desert sands, and alkali flats. All told, nine
18:34
vehicles were damaged beyond repair along the way, while the
18:40
convoy encountered two hundred and thirty road accidents defined as
18:44
instances of road failure and vehicles sinking in quicksand or mud,
18:50
running off the road or over embankments, overturning, or other
18:54
mishaps due entirely to the unfavorable and at times appalling
18:59
traffic conditions. Given the primitive conditions, even on the well
19:05
maintained parts of the road, it is not surprising that
19:08
the expedition damaged or destroyed eighty eight wooden highway bridges
19:14
and culverts, all of which were repaired or rebuilt by
19:18
convoy personnel. The vehicles had performed well given the conditions,
19:28
but road conditions had proven wholly inadequate. I think every
19:34
officer on the convoy had recommended in his report that
19:40
efforts should be made to get our people interested in
19:45
producing better roads, wrote Eisenhower, who lamented the lack of
19:52
investment in maintaining existing roads. It seems evident that of
20:00
very small amount of money spent at the proper time
20:05
would have kept the road in good condition. Eisenhower goes
20:11
on to say. A year later, the second Transcontinental Motor
20:18
Convoy departed from the Zero Milestone on a drive to
20:25
Los Angeles via San Diego and the southern United States.
20:34
Smaller than its predecessor with only fifty vehicles, the second
20:41
convoy encountered similar, if not worse, road conditions and took
20:49
one hundred and eleven days to reach the West Coast,
20:55
averaging only thirty miles a day. From a military perspective,
21:02
both convoys proved that while it was possible to ferry
21:09
army troops and material across the nation, the West coast
21:16
of the United States was essentially on its own in
21:21
the case of an enemy attack, except for what Navy
21:26
and army forces were based in California, Hence the need
21:33
for a reliable national highway system. In nineteen twenty two,
21:39
the Bureau of Public Roads b p R commissioned General
21:46
John J. Pershing, who had been a son in law
21:51
of Wyoming's U S. Senator Francis E. Warren, to draw
21:58
a map that could be used for the construction of
22:02
roads and also for the purpose of clarifying which roads
22:08
would be most important for defense if the nation became
22:12
involved in a war. The Pershing map became the first
22:17
official topographical map of the United States. Pershing had commanded
22:24
the American Expeditionary Forces on the Western Front during World
22:29
War One. He also became a mentor to a number
22:33
of other illustrious United States generals, including Dwight D. Eisenhower.
22:41
In the late nineteen thirties, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt proposed
22:49
routes for a transcontinental system of roads to the chief
22:54
of b p R, but World War II and then
22:58
the Korean War interrupted the plans. As Supreme Commander of
23:03
the Allied Forces in World War II, Eisenhower saw firsthand
23:07
how Nazi Germany's high speed Audubon network allowed its troops
23:12
to mobilize quickly to fight on two fronts. After seeing
23:16
the Audubons of modern Germany and knowing the asset those
23:20
highways were to the Germans. I decided as president to
23:24
put an emphasis on this kind of road building, Eisenhower wrote.
23:31
On June rather twenty nine, nineteen fifty six, Congress authorized
23:38
the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act of fifty six,
23:43
approving twenty five billion for the completion of forty one
23:48
thousand miles of highway within a decade. The Interstate was
23:51
the largest public works project approved in the nation's history.
23:56
The Bureau of Public Roads eventually became part of the
23:58
Federal Highway Administration, formed on April first, nineteen sixty seven,
24:04
as part of the U. S Department of Transportation. With
24:09
America's roads remaining in poor condition decades after his arduous
24:13
cross country trip, Eisenhower championed the creation of the American
24:17
Interstate System, which was officially named in his honour in
24:20
nineteen ninety. As a technical feat, the nineteen nineteen convoy
24:26
ranks highly in the pantheon of American endeavors, if not
24:30
as dramatic as truly monumental achievements like the Lewis and
24:34
Clark Expedition or the building of the Transcontinental Railroad. Perhaps
24:40
most incredibly, just fifty years after the convoys struggled through
24:44
the mud of Nebraska and the sands of Nevada. Americans
24:48
stood on the surface of the Moon. A century of
24:51
technological miracles, from the railroad to the highway to Saturn
24:57
five defined the American tradition of breaking boundaries and mastering nature.
25:06
Sources for today's story came from History dot com, the
25:09
epic road trip that inspired their Interstate road System, but
25:12
by Christopher Klein May of twenty twenty five, The National
25:17
Review dot com commemorating the centennial of the first transcontinental
25:20
motor convoy, written by Michael Austin Austlin in July twenty nineteen,
25:27
and Wyominghistory dot Org Eisenheer's nineteen nineteen road trip Lori
25:32
van Pelt January twenty eighteen. Atlas Obscura dot com, The
25:38
Harrowing Tale of America's worst cross country trip, written by
25:42
Sarah Lascau August twenty fifteen. A book called Ike's Road
25:47
Trip written by Brian C. Black, published in twenty twenty
25:51
four by Godine in Boston, Massachusetts. History dot com Route
25:56
wrote Route sixty six rather de third of History dot
26:02
com editors in July twenty twenty five. Well That about
26:07
does it for today's program. I hope you enjoyed it
26:11
as much as I did researching and reading it to you.
26:14
Thank you for your time today. I'm your host, Joseph Bolt,
26:18
and I'll be back with another chapter of radio eye history.
26:25
Until then, happy trails,