American road : the story of an epic transcontinental journey at the dawn of the motor age /
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.
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
New York :
H. Holt,
[2002]
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| Edition: | 1st ed. |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Table of contents Program air date: September 29, 2002 Contributor biographical information Publisher description |
| 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. 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. |
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| Physical Description: | 274 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 249-251) and index. |
| ISBN: | 080506883X 9780805068832 0805072977 9780805072976 |