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100th anniversary of the Army's first Transcontinental Motor Convoy

Started by oscar, July 07, 2019, 05:41:52 PM

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oscar

Today's Washington Post has a long article on the Army's first Transcontinental Motor Convoy, from Washington D.C. to San Francisco, 100 years ago today (may be paywalled for non-subscribers):

https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/07/07/driving-cross-country-was-crazy-idea-an-army-convoy-set-out-show-it-could-be-done/?utm_term=.fcbdf28a1e86

The difficult cross-country trek was an important event in road history, even though it wasn't the first transcontinental auto road trip:

-- The travails of the convoy convinced the Army that if there were an enemy attack on the West Coast, it would be hard to bring in reinforcements.

-- That in turn help promote to the legislation in the 1920s establishing the U.S. routes system.

-- Then Lt. Colonel and later President Dwight D. Eisenhower went along for the ride. The Convoy, and later travels during World War II on Germany's Autobahns, convinced him of the military importance of a well-developed U.S. national highway system, and inspired the Interstate highway system later named for him.
my Hot Springs and Highways pages, with links to my roads sites:
http://www.alaskaroads.com/home.html


AlexandriaVA


oscar

^ I saw it on the Post's website. I think a "Retropolis" item would normally appear in Metro, but it's not in my paper either. Maybe tomorrow's?

I saw a similar story on another website I frequent, but it's normally very political, so I did a search for something on a less political site.
my Hot Springs and Highways pages, with links to my roads sites:
http://www.alaskaroads.com/home.html

roadman

The convoy is chronicled in the book American Road.  Eisenhower didn't just "go along for the ride", he was second-in-command.  And yes, the trip is what first gave Eisenhower the idea for the Interstate highway system.
"And ninety-five is the route you were on.  It was not the speed limit sign."  - Jim Croce (from Speedball Tucker)

"My life has been a tapestry
Of years of roads and highway signs" (with apologies to Carole King and Tom Rush)



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