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| The Old Soldier Looking Back |
Horatio Nelson Jackson was an an intrepid, path-making American figure of the Daniel Boone archetype before he ever served in uniform. In the spring of 1903, on a whim and a 50-dollar bet, Dr. Horatio Nelson Jackson set off from San Francisco in a 20-horsepower Winton touring car hoping to become the first person to cross the United States in the newfangled "horseless carriage." Most people doubted that the automobile had much of a future. Jackson's trip would prove them wrong. Driving a 1903 Winton Touring Car, he became the first man to cross the continent in an automobile.
A minister's son, born in 1872, Horatio Nelson Jackson earned his medical degree at the University of Vermont in 1893 and practiced for a few years in the towns of Brattleboro and Burlington. Then, in 1899, he married Bertha Richardson Wells, the daughter of one of the richest men in Vermont, the founder of Payne's Celery Compound, a popular cure-all that was 20 percent grain alcohol. It was her money that allowed the newlyweds to make an extended tour of Europe, buy Providence Island in Lake Champlain for a summer residence, invest in mining opportunities, purchase race horses and then automobiles—all despite Jackson's having given up his medical practice in 1900 after a mild case of tuberculosis. And it would be her money financing his improbable journey across the nation.
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| All Aboard: Horatio, Sewall, and Bud |
Horatio's Drive and Its Remembrance
He made the drive to win the $50 bet made at San Francisco’s University Club in 1903. At the time he didn’t own a car and had little driving experience. Also, he suspected that the lack of paved roads, especially in the western parts of the country, might prove difficult, so he hired a mechanic, Sewall K. Crocker, to travel with him. They set out from San Francisco on 23 May 1903.
They passed through Sacramento and then veered north, in part because attempts by others had foundered in the deserts of Nevada and Utah. For guidance, Jackson borrowed maps from bicyclists he met along the way.
Challenges encountered and overcome included flat tires, car breakdowns, cooking gear falling (unnoticed) off the car, the need to cross streams using a block and tackle, lost money, and near starvation.
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| There Were Endless Challenges |
Jackson was consoled on the journey by the presence of his dog, Bud, who wore goggles because the dust from unpaved roads bothered his eyes. Driver, mechanic, and dog reached New York City on 26 July 26 1903, 63 days after leaving San Francisco. After the trip, Jackson became a successful Burlington businessman—newspaper publisher, owner of the town's first radio station, president of a bank.
In 1944, to preserve his moment in history, Jackson donated his car (as well as his scrapbook of newspaper clippings and Bud's goggles) to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. For the rest of his life, he never tired of telling anyone who would listen, the story of his great adventure crossing the continent with Sewall Crocker and the bulldog Bud, in a 1903 Winton called the Vermont. His 1903 Winton today sits in the National Museum of American History.
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| The Men, Dog, and Car Became National Celebrities |
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| 15 Years After His Great Adventure, Horatio's Family Saw Him Off to War |
On to the Great War for Horatio
Already in his mid-40s when World War I broke out, he insisted on enlisting in the Army despite his age, and even arranged a personal meeting with an aging Theodore Roosevelt to seek the ex-president's intercession on his behalf, which he received. Jackson was placed on active duty as a captain in the Medical Corps. While serving with the 313th Infantry, 79th Infantry Division as a major he was wounded at the brutal fight for strongly defended Montfaucon during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, while caring for wounded men under fire. As General Pershing politely described it in his official report, "Montfaucon was held tenaciously by the enemy and was not captured until noon of the second day."
At war's end, he returned from overseas a wounded and decorated hero, having received the Distinguished Service Cross and Purple Heart, as well as France's Croix de Guerre. Back in the United States, he helped found the American Legion, served as one of its leading officers for many years, and later ran unsuccessfully for governor of Vermont. Horatio Nelson Jackson died on 14 January 1955, at the age of 82.
Major Horatio Nelson Jackson's Distinguished Service Cross Citation:
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Major (Medical Corps) Horatio N. Jackson, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with 313th Infantry Regiment (Attached), 79th Division, A.E.F., near Montfaucon, France, September 26-29, 1918. Constantly working in the face of heavy machine-gun and shell fire, Major Jackson was most devoted in his attention to the wounded, always present in the line of advance, directing the administering of first aid, and guiding the work of litter bearers. He remained on duty until severely wounded by high-explosive shells, when he was obliged to evacuate.
Sources: PBS; American Legion; Find a Grave; Highway 50; Wikipedia
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