Selects: The First Road Trip

What It Covers

In 1903, Horatio Nelson Jackson, mechanic Sewell Crocker, and a pit bull named Bud completed the first automobile crossing of the United States — San Francisco to New York — in 63 days, 12 hours, and 30 minutes, winning a $50 wager against a backdrop of 150 paved miles nationwide.

Key Questions Answered

• •Route Strategy: Jackson added hundreds of miles by routing north through Oregon instead of cutting through Nevada's desert, directly avoiding the sand conditions that had defeated Alexander Winton's earlier attempt. Winton's car had become buried in dunes; Jackson's detour through mountain terrain with existing wagon trails proved the decisive factor in completing the crossing successfully.
• •Infrastructure Reality of 1903: Of 2.3 million miles of U.S. roads in 1900, only 150 miles were paved — all within cities. The ratio of horses to cars was 14 million to 8,000. Travelers averaged movement within 12 miles of home, and a New York-to-Philadelphia journey by horse still took approximately two days.
• •Vehicle Limitations: The 1903 Winton touring car produced 20 horsepower — comparable to a modern John Deere x300 riding mower — with a top speed of 30 mph. The car had no windshield, roof, or doors. The clutch failed repeatedly, tires blew out routinely, and the block-and-tackle pulley system was used up to 18 times in a single day.
• •Preparation vs. Outcome: Jackson assembled the entire expedition in four days, including purchasing the used Winton for $3,000 (roughly $100,000 today). Total trip expenditure reached approximately $8,000 in 1903 dollars ($267,000 today), covering hotels, food, gas, repairs, Crocker's wages, and a $15 dog acquisition. Jackson never collected his original $50 wager.
• •Corporate Competition Contrast: Packard and Oldsmobile launched sponsored cross-country attempts shortly after Jackson departed, with pre-positioned fuel supplies and dedicated mechanics along the route. Jackson refused a mid-trip sponsorship offer from Winton in Cleveland, preserving the journey's independent character despite having no logistical support network from the start.