Horatio Nelson Jackson
Horatio Nelson Jackson (March 25, 1872 – January 14, 1955) was an American physician, Army medical officer, and automobile pioneer.[2] Besides his medical practice, Jackson was an auto enthusiast who differed with the then-prevailing wisdom that the automobile was a passing fad and a recreational plaything.While in San Francisco's University Club as a guest on May 18, 1903, he agreed to a $50 wager (equivalent to $1,696 in 2023[3]) to prove that a four-wheeled machine could be driven across the country.Jackson and his wife planned to return to their Burlington, Vermont, home in a few days, and both had been taking automobile driving lessons while in San Francisco.He bought a slightly used, two-cylinder,[4] 20 hp[5] Winton, which he named the Vermont, after his home state, bade his wife goodbye, and left San Francisco on May 23, carrying coats, rubber protective suits, sleeping bags, blankets, canteens, a water bag, an axe, a shovel, a telescope, tools, spare parts, a block and tackle, cans for extra gasoline and oil, a Kodak camera, a rifle, a shotgun, and pistols.[6] They were also forced to pay a $4 (equivalent to $136 in 2023[3]) toll by a land-owner in order to cross his property on a "bad, rocky, mountain road" as Jackson described it.Jackson did manage to find a telegraph office and wired back to San Francisco for replacement tires to be transported to them along the journey.[6] Newspapers at the time gave a variety of stories of how Bud was acquired, including that he was stolen; in a letter to his wife, Nelson said a man sold him the dog for $15[9] (equivalent to $509 in 2023[3]).It turned out that the dusty alkali flats the travelers encountered would bother Bud's eyes so much (the Vermont had neither a roof nor windshield) that Jackson eventually fitted him with a pair of goggles.Between June 20 and 21, all three of them got lost in Wyoming, and went without food for 36 hours before finding a sheepherder who gave them a meal of roast lamb and boiled corn.The only mishap happened just east of Buffalo, New York, when the Vermont ran into a hidden obstacle in the road and Jackson, Crocker, and Bud were thrown from the car.[6] They arrived in New York City on July 26, 1903, 63 days, 12 hours, and 30 minutes after commencing their journey in San Francisco, in the first automobile to successfully transit the North American continent.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.
TorontoBurlington, VermontLakeview CemeteryWilliam WellsHollister JacksonJohn Holmes JacksonUniversity of VermontPhysicianBranchUnited States ArmyMedical CorpsWorld War IMeuse–ArgonneDefensive SectorDistinguished Service CrossLegion of HonorFranceCroix de Guerre with PalmArmy medical officerSewall K. Crockerroad tripSan FranciscoNew York CityVermontmayor of Burlington, VermontS. Hollister JacksonLieutenant governor of VermontBrattleboroMedal of Honorpatent medicineUniversity ClubNational Museum of American History1903 Winton touring carWintonAlexander WintonSacramento ValleyOregon TrailSierra NevadaRocky MountainsOaklandSacramentoOregontelegraphAlturas, CaliforniaBurns, OregonVale, OregonOntario, OregonCaldwell, Idahobulldogalkali flatsMountain Home, IdahoSawtooth MountainsHailey, IdahoCheyenne, WyomingOmaha, NebraskaBuffalo, New YorkGreat Vermont Flood of 1927Vermont National GuardTheodore Roosevelt79th DivisionMontfauconMeuse–Argonne OffensiveLegion of HonourCroix de GuerreA. E. F.American LegionOfficer Reserve CorpsGovernor of Vermontradio stationSmithsonian InstitutionWashington, D.C.Documentary filmKen BurnsHoratio's DriveDayton DuncanTom HanksHe'd Have to Get Under – Get Out and Get Under (to Fix Up His Automobile)List of members of the American LegionList of people from VermontList of University of Vermont peopleInternet ArchiveBurlington Free PressNewspapers.comMcCusker, J. J.American Antiquarian SocietyGeorge A. Wymanmotorized bicycleGoogle BooksPoughkeepsie Daily EagleSightline Media GroupFind a Grave