
... 1909 (100 years ago today), 4 women rode out of New York City in a Maxwell touring car. "Forty-one driving days, 11 tires and 3,800 miles later they arrived in San Francisco, where they were met by a large fanfare celebration." Along the way the adventurers -- the driver, 22-year-old wife and mother Alice Huyler Ramsey, became the 1st woman ever to drive from coast-to-coast -- dealt with bad roads and weather, flat tires and car breakdowns, native Americans hunting jackrabbits and a posse of more recent settlers hunting an accused murderer. Ramsey described the trip in her book Veil, Duster, and Tire Iron (1961); she became the 1st woman to be inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 2000. (credit for photo of Ramsey changing a tire during the 1909 sojourn)

(Prior June 9 posts are here and here.)