| Edition |
1st ed. |
| Description |
274 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm |
|
text txt rdacontent |
|
unmediated n rdamedia |
|
volume nc rdacarrier |
| Summary |
The story of the First Transcontinental Motor Train, an expedition of "eighty-one vehicles and nearly three hundred men" from the White House in Washington, D.C. to San Francisco in 1919. |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 249-251) and index. |
| Contents |
1. Zero milestone -- 2. A road across America -- 3. "We're going to get there; that's all" -- 4. A revolution in movement -- 5. Soldier weds in hurry -- 6. The mud column -- 7. Across the 100th meridian -- 8. Human-skin shoes -- 9. The Utah controversy -- 10. Ghost road -- 11. The promised land -- Epilogue : the end of the road. |
| Summary |
This book is a fascinating account of the greatest road trip in American history. On July 7, 1919, an extraordinary cavalcade of military motor vehicles set off from the White House on an epic journey. Their goal was California, and ahead of them lay 3,250 miles of dirt, mud, rock, and sand. Stretching more than two miles long, the convoy included trucks, cars, motorcycles, ambulances, machine shops, and mobile kitchens. All told, there were eighty-one vehicles and nearly three hundred men. Two months later they arrived in San Francisco, having averaged just five miles an hour. Known as the First Transcontinental Motor Train, this trip was an adventure, a circus, a public-relations coup, and a war game all rolled into one. As road conditions worsened, it also became a daily battle of sweat and labor, guts and determination. - Jacket flap. |
| Subject |
United States -- Description and travel.
|
|
Overland journeys to the Pacific.
|
|
Automobile travel -- United States -- History -- 20th century.
|
|
Travelers -- United States -- Biography.
|
|
Automobile travel. (OCoLC)fst00823217
|
|
Overland journeys to the Pacific. (OCoLC)fst01049347
|
|
Travel. (OCoLC)fst01155558
|
|
Travelers. (OCoLC)fst01155691
|
|
United States. (OCoLC)fst01204155
|
| Chronological Term |
1900-1999
|
| Genre/Form |
Biographies. (OCoLC)fst01919896
|
|
History. (OCoLC)fst01411628
|
|
Biographies.
|
| ISBN |
080506883X (hb) |
|
9780805068832 (hb) |
|
0805072977 |
|
9780805072976 |
|
