100 Years on the Lincoln Highway

- Your support helps us bring you the programs you love. Go to Wyoming PBS dot org.ú Click on support and become a sustaining member or annual member. It's easy and safe. Thank you. (piano music) - Before the interstate

highway

system, before the famous Route 66, before

highway

s were even numbered, there was one highway that captured the public's attention. A path that led to new horizons. A path that changed America forever. Beginning in Times Square, New York, and ending in San Francisco, was America's first coast-to-coast automobile highway, the Lincoln Highway. A little over a century ago there was no single highway for automobiles in the entire United States.

There were wagon trails and ranch trails in the west, turnpikes and farm roads in the east, but for the most part these roads led nowhere. - The roads of the time were simply simple roads through the land and these were roads that ranchers and farmers used to get to the city and back. - At the beginning of the century there were not so many cars to build roads, but there were bicycles. - So cyclists are actually the ones who really started the good roads movement because the roads back then, of course, were dirt that turned to mud and then when the mud hardened there were hard ruts, which which is fine for horses and buggies, but someone on a bicycle certainly won't work.

When the automobile became more prevalent, automotive entrepreneurs who had the financial means jumped on the bandwagon. And they basically became the fathers of the good roads movement at that time. - Among those first automotive entrepreneurs was Carl G Fisher. Fisher was an Indiana businessman who formed the Perst-O-Lite company that manufactured acetylene headlights for early automobiles. He was also one of the founders of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home of the famous Indianapolis 500 race. - Carl Fischer was really a promoter, really a great fighter in many ways. He wasn't a planner, but he had good ideas. - In 1912, Fisher conceived of an improved, hard-surfaced highway from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

He called it Coast to Coast Rock Highway. In September of that year, Fisher met with auto industry leaders to present his idea and ask for donations to pay for the proposed highway. Fisher considered that it could be completed in time for the 1915 Exposition in San Francisco. "Let's build it," he told the group before they were too old to enjoy it. Within 30 minutes of his speech, Frank Seiberling, president of Goodyear Tires, was so inspired that he pledged $300,000. Henry Joy, president of Packard Motor Company, enthusiastically offered $150,000. - The intention was to connect the country from the East Coast to the West Coast.

Trade was an important part of it, but also to encourage people to go out and travel, but they were also patriotic and believed it would benefit the country. - Within a few months, Fisher had more than $4 million in promises from automakers and auto-related companies, all but one major holdout. Henry Ford was against the financing of roads by private companies in the United States. He thought the government should be responsible. He would eventually prove that he was right. (piano music) The automobile had been around for a couple of decades before the Lincoln Highway, but they were expensive. - You would see Maxwells and Premieres and occasionally Studebakers and other fine automobiles, expensive automobiles, which would cost two

years

' salary for a working person at that time and were toys for the rich. - But in 1908 a vehicle appeared that shook the nascent automotive industry and laid the foundation for a revolution in personal transportation.

That vehicle was the Ford Model T. The Model T was the first automobile mass produced on moving assembly lines with completely interchangeable parts and marketed to the middle class. It was a small, strong and reliable car, which its owner could easily repair. With 30-inch tires, it had good ground clearance, but its most important attribute was the price. Due to the constant improvement of mass production, the price of a new Model T fell from $850 at its launch to $260 in 1925. With costs falling, Model T sales soared. The one millionth Model T was produced in 1915. By 1921, five million of them were on the roads.

And just three

years

later there were 10 million. By the end of its run in 1927, 15 million Model Ts had been manufactured. This unique vehicle propelled Henry Ford to national prominence and the Ford Motor Company to unimaginable success. but the most important thing was the car with which they put the United States on the roads. People could now travel at their own pace, on their own schedule, potentially to any destination. The only problem was that there weren't many improved roads yet. After pledging monetary support from his company, Henry Joy suggested a different name for the Fisher's Coast to Coast Rock Highway. - "Let's call it Lincoln Highway." He said Carl Fisher and Carl Fisher knew instantly that was the right name because Abraham Lincoln brought the country back together. - The Lincoln Highway Association was formed in Detroit on July 1, 1913.

It was the first real attempt to develop, map, sign, and promote a highway across the United States. Henry Joy became the association's first president. Carl Fischer was appointed vice president. Linking a variety of existing roads, the Lincoln Highway route was made public on September 14, 1913. It traversed more than 3,300 miles, crossing 12 states and four time zones. Bonfires, speeches, fireworks and parades occurred in hundreds of cities and towns along the Route at the time of its inauguration on October 31, 1913, but now that the highway was an official reality. (car horn) After all the promotion, all the anticipation, and all the celebrations, the Lincoln Highway was still just a set of existing roads and trails.

How difficult would a coast-to-coast car trip really be? In July 2013, members of the new Lincoln Highway Association set out to discover the answer. - The cars on the tour are wonderful because we have 100 years of cars from 1913 to current cars and I love the diversity. - The Lincoln Highway was for everyone. You know, when you go out, when you get on the dirt roads, you really see what it was like between 1913 and 1935, especially here I am in a car that existed at that time. It is really necessary to go back in time and live as they lived back then. ♪ Standing in the wind-swept sagebrush ♪ Hey, there it was, I saw it ♪ Drive by that thing again ♪ There's a marker made of concrete ♪ From 80 years ago ♪ When this broken asphalt was the only road in the country ♪ Coastal to coast ♪ Now the road who was first ♪ Think about that ♪ Now the road long before Jack Pure-O was ♪ Down the road I'd rather go back ♪ We're looking for the Lincoln Highway ♪ Down the road (harmonica) - Highway 30 It goes through a lot of small towns that don't have the kind of traffic they used to have.

They are fabulous, quaint little towns with wonderful people and you would never get the chance to see them otherwise. - The Lincoln Highway Association's 1916 highway guide offered advice for those venturing on the new highway. - For a true vacation, nothing better than a camping trip. - The guide suggested bringing camping equipment, canned and dry foods, and various thick clothing. - The equipment was essential. They had four or five spare tires, six if they could get them on their cars. They had tire chains. They used tire chains quite a bit. They had jacks and shovels, sticks they could stick under the bumper to lift them out of a mud hole.

They used flat wooden slabs to place under the tires. - Following advice and warnings and purchasing necessary supplies, early automobile enthusiasts packed up their vehicles and began venturing down the Lincoln Highway. The great American Road Trip was born. One of those adventurers was Effie Price Gladding. In 1914, she and her husband left San Francisco and drove the new Lincoln Highway to New Jersey. Her next book was the first of many to discuss the transcontinental route. - We resolved from the beginning to take the days and the paths as they came, without seeking luxuries and contenting ourselves with simplicity.

It's amazing how such a deliberate mental attitude strengthens us for the vicissitudes of the journey, Effie Price Gladding. - Cheyenne, Wyoming, was one of the five state capitals through which the Lincoln Highway passed. At the association's request, Cheyenne 16th Street was renamed Lincoln Way, a nickname that still exists today. In Cheyenne, many early travelers stayed at the Plains Hotel. Built in 1911, locals considered it the best accommodation on the Lincoln Highway between Chicago and San Francisco. For those who could not afford a hotel, a free municipal campground was located along the lake at the north end of the city.

In 1920, 40,000 people camped there. East Coast tourists crossing the Laramie Mountains west of Cheyenne must have been baffled by the dryness, strange rock formations, and general lack of trees along the Route. These were not the Rocky Mountains they had imagined, but many were excited about the sites they encountered on this leg of the trip. One of the landmarks was the monument to Oakes and Oliver Ames, financiers and developers of the Union Pacific Railroad. - I'm here at the Ames Monument now and I can't wait to get out and see the view from up here. This is truly an amazing structure.

It's just great. I'm surprised something like this happens in the middle of Wyoming. Impressive, I love it. - Over the years, the Lincoln Highway was moved several times to provide motorists with better alignment, an improved roadway, and a reduced distance. The original 1913 route traveled southwest along Hermosa Road and then to Tie Siding, where it turned north and followed present-day Highway 287 through Red Butte and then to Laramie, but in 1919 a new segment opened of Lincoln Highway. It continued west from the Ames Monument to Sherman Hill Summit, the highest point on Lincoln at 8,835 feet. In the 1920s, a gas station and Road House known as The Summit Tavern was built in Sherman Summit.

With road improvements, Summit Tavern also improved over the years. Today there is a rest stop on the interstate, not far from the original high point of the Lincoln Highway. Here modern travelers stop to see two memorials that sit high above the highway. Lincoln's bronze head was designed and created in 1958 by University of Wyoming art professor Robert Russin. Due to Wyoming's extreme temperatures, he cast this sculpture in Mexico. It was shipped to Laramie on a truck to its original destination in Sherman Hill, where it was dedicated. Russin and said that he wanted to show a contemplative Lincoln in the last years of his life.

The great heart of him afflicted by the income of the Nation from him. Another monument at the Summit rest stop is located next to the one in Lincoln. The Henry B Joy Monument honors the first president of the Lincoln Highway Association and the president of the Packard Motor Car Company. Joy was an avid outdoorsman who drove cross-country several times testing the latest production Packards. He often encountered unfavorable conditions, but enjoyed every minute outside the corporate boardroom. His monument was moved to the rest area from a remote site near Creston, Wyoming, about 100 miles to the west. - Where we are now is the site of the original Henry Joy Monument.

The story goes that he was really in love with the Wyoming sunset and decided that maybe he wanted to be buried here. In 1939, his wife placed a monument here at this location and this monument remained here until it was moved to the Lincoln Rest Stop between Cheyenne and Laramie. - After reaching the top of Sherman Summit, the Lincoln Highway descended west through Telephone Canyon toward Laramie. Wyoming highway workers built the Lincoln Highway through this narrow canyon between 1919 and 1920. It was an amazing feat of engineering that shaved miles off the trip. - The idea of ​​the western, of the cowboy, really took shape at the beginning of the 20th century.

People loved western movies, so these travelers would come to Wyoming and meet cowboys. They would see people herding cattle. They could interact with these people in the cafes, saloons, hotels, and cities along the Lincoln Highway. - We arrived in Laramie and arrived there on the eve of the 4th of July. Laramie has a good hotel that was packed with people. The ranchers had brought their families for the fourth festivities. The tall cowboys lounged around in their most ornamental tall boots, their best silk shirts and their brightest ties, Effie Price Gladding. - Laramie was the home of a true Wyoming automobile pioneer, ElmerLovejoy.

Always a handyman and inventor, he had a garage on South Second Avenue where he built bicycles, but in 1898 he was hard at work on a new project. - What Elmer Lovejoy did in May of 1898 was take some of his bicycle repair skills and some of those bicycle parts he had in his shop and put them together with an internal combustion engine mounted on four wheels and drive around Laramie in May. of 1898 in what was Wyoming's first automobile. - Soon Lovejoy, E.L. Emery and others in Wyoming began publishing travel guides for motorists. These guides often had detailed step-by-step instructions, but did not mention pool road conditions.

But rudimentary maps and misleading descriptions were the least of the problems encountered by early Lincoln Highway travelers. - The trip was quite hard. It was unmarked and in most places. Occasionally there was dirt, mud or a little gravel. There was really no pavement to speak of outside of the towns and cities. Even when the trail was marked, if it rained you could get into some pretty serious mud holes because it was just a natural trail, there was no paving, no improvements, no embankments of any kind. - Some farmers and ranchers came to the aid of stuck motorists, often not accepting any payment for their efforts.

Others hated cars, especially the initial wave of wealthy owners who inadvertently ran over chickens and other farm animals. They often counterattacked by scattering studs along the way. Some Wyoming ranchers didn't like cars so much that they sometimes threatened drivers with guns. Others sought revenge using less hostile tactics. - The guides are useful things like "Turn right at the red barn." And then the farmer would paint the barn white and then you were lost, so these things take a while to figure out until they become better marked. -But over time farmers and ranchers began to accept automobiles, especially the Model T, which could travel on rocky and muddy trails and could even be used as a power plant for livestock machinery.

In Wyoming and other states, fences surrounding farms and ranches often blocked the road. The initial Lincoln Highway route between Laramie and Rawlins had no fewer than 18 gates through which drivers had to stop, open, and close again. Alternative routes were often advertised. The bridges were another problem because at first there weren't too many. To cross a stream bed or dry ravine, side banks were cut and large rocks moved before automobiles could cross. To avoid this effort, some Travelers used railway bridges. Sometimes checking the railway schedules, sometimes not with all the dangers that entailed. But in 1916 local communities were working hard to improve the road that passed through their villages.

His credo was to fix the bad places first. They installed sewers. reinforced bridges, filling holes and smoothing grooves. The Lincoln Highway Association encouraged and sponsored civic groups and businesses along the route to mark it. - In terms of signage, the Lincoln Highway first tried to get local groups to mark the highway any way they could. There were posts painted red, white and blue with the L being one of the first shapes, simple wooden signs that said from here to Evanston, from here to, you know, from here to Wamsutter. - From Laramie to Medicine Bow, this section of the Lincoln Highway along US 30 has been considered the best in Wyoming, but in 1912 and 1913 a furious battle broke out over the route to the Lincoln Highway between Laramie and Rollins. - Really the big fight between Medicine Bow versus Elk Mountain and we have a hotel in Medicine Bow, The Virginian and then we have the Elk Mountain Hotel, so there is a big battle.

The pair are lobbying the Lincoln Highway Association to advocate why the highway should pass through their town. - August Rim was a businessman, tavern owner, and first mayor of Medicine Bow. His iconic hotel, the Virginia Hotel, had electric lights, indoor plumbing, and cost a whopping $65,000 to build. - The hotel was completed in 1911, had a grand opening, two months later Union Pacific stopped stopping its trains in Medicine Bow. Rim was stuck with this huge white elephant that wasn't making any money without the train. He had heard that there was going to be a transcontinental highway that would cross the United States.

He was determined to ensure the highway passed through Medicine Bow to save his struggling business, The Virginian Hotel. -Meanwhile, the city fathers of Elk Mountain boasted of their excellent hotel and the abundance of innumerable springs and streams of clear, fresh, good water. That a route through their area was also 18 miles shorter, but August Rim could not be denied. He met with like-minded businessmen and formed a plan. -He decided that they had to take matters into their own hands. He called some of his cronies one afternoon at his bar in Medicine Bow and told them we were going to have to do it ourselves because we couldn't get a decision from anyone else.

The group sat down and made about 60 of these facsimile Lincoln Highway signs and in one day they signed the entire route from Laramie to Rawlins with these facsimile signs. He then invited the Laramie Chamber of Commerce and the Rawlins Chamber of Commerce to travel the route to Medicine Bow. When they arrived in Medicine Bow they were greeted by a cocktail and lounge at the ranch and then a meal at the Virginian Hotel. After doing all this and coming home, they contacted the state engineer, this gentleman, Mr. Parshall, and said, "What's the problem? The road was already marked." It is already located. "There's no use fighting about this anymore." So (mumbles) he agreed and that's how the road came to Medicine Bow.

It was strictly thanks to Rim's tireless efforts and his take-the-bull-by-the-horns attitude that he managed to bring the Lincoln Highway to Medicine Bow. - In the 1960s the situation changed in Medicine Bow. The new Interstate 80 traveled west past Elk Mountain and bypassed all the towns between Laramie and Rollins along the old Lincoln Highway. - Medicine Bow had 57 small businesses when I opened 80 in 1970. Now we have five. Killed Medicine Bow. Killed Rock River. He killed Vosler. I 80 was a disaster for our town and for the towns that existed along the original route. - By the 1920s, the Lincoln Highway and passenger cars had captured the imagination of the middle and working classes.

People were paid better salaries. They had more free time due to a shorter work week and bought cars, primarily the Model T. As a result, many Americans are beginning to take longer car trips. Packing their cars with camping gear and luggage. Carrying their families, they followed their guides and set out for new horizons on the Lincoln Highway. ♪ Rolling down that Lincoln Highway ♪ The oldest highway from coast to coast ♪ Built a long time ago ♪ By those hardworking men ♪ They had a dream but they still wanted more ♪ Now old Abe Lincoln was a straight man ♪ He asked a question to the soul of this land ♪ Shouldn't all men be free ♪ And except the different crowd ♪ Yes, it answers ringing clear and loud (honk) ♪ Rollin' down that Lincoln Highway ♪ Rollin' down that Lincoln Highway ♪ Rollin' down that Lincoln Highway ♪ Rollin' down the Lincoln Highway (horn honks): These new Travelers couldn't afford hotels or good meals.

They barely had enough for food and gasoline. They would simply stop at any open land and often set up camp without asking permission. These budget car travelers were called tin tourists not because of the Model T Tin Lizzy they drove, but because of the food they ate in cans. - As we drove we constantly saw the remains of old fields on the side of the road. Old tin kettles, bits of worn-out camp stools, and piles of tin cans, are mute and inglorious monuments to the bivouacs of other days. These vast plateau states rely heavily on canned foods, and all along, cans led the way, Effie Price Gladding. - But in one place in Wyoming, tourists left more than their trash can. - We are standing at a registration site along a segment of the Lincoln Highway between Rock Springs and Rawlins.

Like the Overland Trail immigrants in the 1840s and '50s who stopped at Independence Rock to sign their names, travelers here on The Lincoln Highway also stopped here and carved their names and initials into the rocks. - Camps sponsored by cities and towns began to grow because tourists destroyed farmers' fields and ranch lands with their trash. -If there was no one in the community willing to provide the types of services that travelers might want to take advantage of to maybe stop and set up a tent camp, the Town would go ahead and do it because they recognized it.

From early on, people who stopped at a free campground near town spent some money in the local community. - Tourist traffic on the Lincoln Highway proved to be a financial boon for cities both large and small. Auto repair shops, restaurants, hotels, gas stations and tourist stops of all kinds reap the rewards of the Lincoln Highway. - People realized that maybe a little shelter from the Wyoming wind would be nice and built little cabins. Well, very soon these cabins became popular. Let's put them all in a row and put them together and we'll call it a motel.

That was really the development of the first type of roadside motel. These long rows of rooms that at first used to have a small garage between each cabin. These cabins were built in the early 1920s 26, 30. People started using them all the time to camp at night. They had showers, parking garages and all the facilities inside. They were great. They multiplied throughout the city. - Part motel, part camping facility, travelers can get a good night's rest, shower, and prepare a meal, all for a very affordable price. - We are at Sunset Cabins in Evanston, Wyoming, one of the great cultural resources of our community.

This typifies what happened when the Lincoln Highway at its peak passed right next to here. When the cabins were built in the 1920s, they were the first lodging cabins in Evanston. - Surprisingly, the remains of the cabins are still standing, but are in urgent need of repair and restoration. So, the cabins are there, the camp over here. That is fantastic. - Some smart enough to incorporate the entire identity of gas, food and accommodation into their business. You could buy gasoline. You could eat a sandwich and rent a little tourist cabin. - One company in particular rose from the ranks of mom-and-pop establishments to become a major player in the travel services industry: Little America.

Little America was founded in 1934 by Stephen Mack Covey. He tells the story that when he was a young sheepherder, he once spent the night without shelter when a snowstorm hit and temperatures dropped to 40 degrees below zero. After surviving this ordeal, he was inspired to build an oasis for travelers that he called Little America in honor of Admiral Byrd's camp in Antarctica. The penguin became his logo. At first, the business was modest, located near Granger, Wyoming, with 12 booths, two gas pumps and 24 seats in the cafeteria. It was a useful stop in the Lincoln to buy gas and get a good night's sleep.

A cocktail lounge called the Palm Room was soon added. A hotel was later built. In 1949, Little America moved to its current location at Exit 68 along the proposed route of Interstate I-80. In 1952, Earl Holding, Covey's son-in-law, began managing it. He later bought the business. In the 1960s it was advertised as the largest gas station in the world with 55 pumps. Today, long after many family cabins have faded, Little America remains a popular Lincoln Highway remnant along I-80. - Rollins was our resting place for the night. It is a pleasant town with wide streets and lots of sun. In Rollins, as in most Western cities, we stayed in a hotel run according to the European plan and ate at a nearby restaurant.

I am always surprised to see the number of people in restaurants and cafes in the West. Even in small towns these places are full of people, Effie Price Gladding. -The hotel she was referring to was The Ferris Hotel, a landmark in downtown Rollins since 1901. After falling into disrepair, it was demolished in 1999, but the Ferris Mansion still stands in Rollins. Lincoln Highway travelers must have gasped at this elaborate Queen Anne-style building. Today it serves as a B&B for modern road travelers. WestwardFrom Rollins, the Lincoln Highway route crosses the Continental Divide and enters the Great Divide Basin.

Here the water does not flow either east or west, but simply evaporates into the air. It is the beginning of the Red Desert at more than 9,000 square miles, the largest unfenced area in the continental United States. Some Lincoln Highway travelers loved the desert. - The Wyoming desert has a clearer and more vivid color than that of Nevada. The plateau is more undulating and the mountains are further away. The smell of mugwort, pungent and aromatic, is in my nostrils day after day. I love it for its cleanliness and spicy flavor and she will regret it when we have left the desert behind, Effie Price Gladding. - Others couldn't wait to cross it.

One trailer described the Red Desert as a place where even prairie dogs, rattlesnakes, and coyotes had left the country in disgust. The Lincoln Highway in this part of Wyoming, follows the old bed of the Union Pacific Rail or more precisely it was the bed of the abandoned railroad. - So in 1913, when they established the first grade, they just put people down these railroad grades and they were better than pretty much anything else in Wyoming because they were raised berms. You were out of the mud. They were well drained. The moisture would run off of them, so what they did was cut the top of these slopes, widen them, throw the dirt on the sides and turn them into a fairly narrow two-lane road. - With the increase in traffic after 1920, major changes to the grade, alignment and bridges were required.

The Lincoln Highway Association helped the state complete 105 miles of graded gravel. - We are standing on a segment of the 1920s Lincoln Highway. This is the first purpose-built version of the highway. It is a 24-foot-wide, two-lane berm, usually covered in crushed rock similar to the ballast the Union Pacific Railroad used on its tracks. Occasionally covered with oil in places to stabilize the berm, but very rarely paved at least until the 1930s. This is the last version of the Lincoln Highway. We refer to it as the 1930s variant, although officially it is United States Highway US 30. This version was built between the mid-1930s and early 1940s.

It is a very typical two-lane road, 36 feet wide, paved with traffic signs, everything a modern highway would have. - Rock Springs has been a mining town since the days of the Transcontinental Railroad. It is also home to a Lincoln Highway landmark, the Rock Springs Coal Arch, which was erected over the Lincoln Highway in 1928. As motorists drove under it, they had to watch its progress. The speed limit through Rock Springs was eight miles per hour, one of the lowest along the entire highway, another potential source of revenue provided by the Lincoln Highway for the cities and towns along its route. . - The scenery of Butte both approaching and leaving Green River was very good.

The color was extremely rich, soft reds, yellows, browns and clay colors. There were long rows of round buttresses and great concavities of rock that looked more like the famous Cos of southern France than anything I had ever seen, Effie Price Gladding. - In 1913, travelers traveling on the Lincoln Highway crossed the Green River on an Old Wagon Bridge. It was considered the worst section of Wyoming's Lincoln Highway. But in 1922 the state built a new highway bridge and changed the route. What was once feared by Travelers now became a beautiful crossing. This second-generation highway passes at the foot of Tollgate Rock and runs along the base of the spectacular Green River Palisades.

He then crossed the longest span of the Lincoln Highway in Wyoming, the 286-foot-long Green River Bridge. Tourists driving to Yellowstone Park headed northwest into Little America. Those who remained on the Lincoln turned west and southwest. Along the way, Lincoln Highway travelers marveled at the unusual rock formations of Church Butte. - The Wyoming Buttes are wonderfully carved by wind, sand and weather and many of them present a mysterious and imposing appearance. They are often plateaus that rise square and massive against the horizon like immense fortresses, Effie Price Gladding. - Further down the road they passed through (murmurs), originally a Mormon settlement founded in 1899.

The town of Fort Bridger was originally a trading post built by famous trapper and mountain man Jim Bridger. In 1843 it was a supply stop for travelers along the Oregon Trail and later the Overland Stage and Pony Express. Lincoln Highway Auto tourists also stopped here and stayed in the black and orange tourist cabins with attached garages. They have recently been restored by the state of Wyoming. This stretch of the Lincoln Highway from Fort Bridger to Evanston, even in 1919, was abysmal, but it had its scenic pleasures. - One of the famous places that is about 12 miles east of here is called Eagle Rock and it was a famous place on the highway.

If one is collecting Lincoln Highway curiosities and memorabilia, one often comes across a postcard with the image of the eagle. - After a long day of traveling through Wyoming's arid climate, one of Evanston's roadside businesses served not only the lodging needs of Lincoln Highway tourists, but also their thirst. - Pete's Rock and Rye Club, which is just outside the city limits when Evanston was built, probably in the 1940s, is a famous landmark in Evanston because it was the local watering hole. - Well, it was a small roadside bar frequented by people from the 40s and 50s.

My dad and his brother had worked in some tourist cabins and I grew up in cabin number 6. Every morning I woke up to new neighbors and wonderful stories over the road and then years later the bulldozers buried our place to make a new road and I moved here to continue my love affair with the road. Now I'm open on weekends. (mumbles) Isn't it difficult? 12 hours a week sitting on that stool over there and chatting with my regular customers, who I love dearly. (Laughter) - As the Lincoln Highway Association lobbied the state and federal governments to support highway construction, Washington began to listen particularly to the Department of Defense. 1919 Lincoln Road Association field secretary Harry Osterman convinced the War Department to organize a motor convoy.

I would cruise the Lincoln Highway from coast to coast. Composed of nearly 300 soldiers and 80 vehicles, the convoy set out to demonstrate the practicality of moving motorized troops across the country. A last-minute addition to that convoy was a young lieutenant colonel whose experiences on this trip years later would, ironically, spell the end of the Lincoln Highway. His name was Dwight D. Eisenhower. The trip required many repairs to military vehicles, as well as the reconstruction of bridges that could not support heavy loads. - Wyoming roads west of Cheyenne are poor dirt with weak bridges and culverts. In one day, 14 of them were impaled by the train.

The desert roads in the southwestern part of this state are very poor. Lieutenant Colonel Dwight D. Eisenhower. The convoy finally arrived in San Francisco after 62 arduous days. In the end, this military exercise managed to convince the government that paved roads were essential for the country's National Defense. It was a public relations triumph for Osterman. All of the Lincoln Highway Association's efforts are now directed toward involving local, state and federal governments in the business of highway construction. The Federal Highway Act of 1921 provided matching funds to states for highway construction to the tune of $75 million. . Roads in the United States began to improve rapidly.

With better roads, the idea of ​​a long road trip by car was becoming popular. Women, in particular, boldly embraced the idea of ​​the American road trip. Some in an attempt to promote women's rights, others simply exercising their newfound independence. - They could get in the car and drive into town and enter a social circle or maybe even go into business like many women are starting to do. It was a great liberation for all segments of society, but particularly for women because they had mobility that they had not had before. - Dr. Grace Raymond Hebard was a Wyoming historian in the early 20th century, she owned a car and traveled around Wyoming looking for historic sites and also became very involved in the historical marking work that was more or less a hallmark of the Progressive Era of marking places of historical importance.

Many times she would be driving around looking at these historical sites and something would go wrong with her car and you would have to climb under it and figure out how to fix one part or another. One aspect that was very important to Wyoming was the historical markers that she established because they were all based on the fact that cars could stop there and read about the historical event that had occurred. - With the Highway Act of 1921, the involvement of the federal government marked the beginning of the end of the Lincoln Highway. Now that the state had matching funds, new roads with various names appeared throughout the country.

At that time there were hundreds of roads with names. It was a confusing plate of road spaghetti in many places. You had six or eight named roads coming together in one place and you tried to read the signs on all of them. It was a very poor agreement. It was very difficult for the motorist to get anywhere by following these signs. - Washington intervened once again and proposed a numbering convention: all national highways would now be identified by a Federal Shield that includes the highway number. Route markers and named road signs were removed. The Lincoln Highway was designated as U.S.

Route 30 for much of its length, but also became U.S. Route 30, U.S. 530, U.S. 40 .US and the US 50 in other areas. In the fall of 1926, the Lincoln Highway Association Board of Directors voted to cease operations at the end of 1927. They realized that their goal of an intercontinental highway network was coming to fruition, but there was a last publicity attempt in September 1928. Thousands of Boy Scouts across the country placed cast concrete markers on the Lincoln Highway at sites along the Route. These red, white, and blue markers held a brass medallion of Lincoln's head and directional arrows to mark the path.

In total, almost 3000 of these now iconic publications. They were positioned. By the time of the Lincoln Highway's 25th anniversary in 1938, almost the entire route was paved. On that anniversary, NBC broadcast a radio program that included interviews with former Lincoln Highway Association officials and a message from Carl Fischer. The Lincoln Highway Association has achieved its primary goal: to provide an object lesson to show the possibilities of road transportation. I now believe the country is at the beginning of another new era in highway construction that will create a highway system far beyond the dreams of Lincoln Highway founder Carl G.

Fisher. - Fisher died the following year. He had lost most of his fortune in the Wall Street crash of 1929. Henry Joy died on November 6, 1936. As a general route, the Lincoln Highway in its new numerical character was now being used more than ever, but it soon gave way. step by step and an even bigger idea. Dwight Eisenhower, after his experiences with the 1919 Army convoy and his admiration for the Autobahn during World War II, envisioned something similar in the United States, a national network of limited-access highways. When he became president in 1953, he stayed true to his dream by signing the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1954 and 1956.

He soon began construction of the interstate highway system. It took 30 years to be fully completed. Now the Lincoln Highway was truly gone. In its place, covering much of its route from New Jersey to California, was I 80. Many parts of the Lincoln Highway today lay empty and in ruins. Other sections are still used as local routes through many states. In Wyoming you can see some areas of the old abandoned highway running alongside current I-80. In the 1980s, new interest in the Lincoln Highway began to develop, largely due to a book, a photo essay by Drake Hokanson. -He talked about the thrill of the highway, of getting off the interstate, of rediscovering America again and the fascination of this highway, and he kind of faded from the public consciousness.

And that book influenced a lot of people. We owe a lot to DrakeHokanson for writing that book. - For a long time I have been very attracted to history, to the feeling of the hard work that people have done over many generations to create what we have today. How we travel, how we understand the land, how we know who we are, is very powerful. - A new Lincoln Highway Association was formed in 1992 with the mission of identifying, preserving and improving access to the remaining portions of the Lincoln Highway and its associated historic sites. In the summer of 2013, 270 members from around the world drove from both coasts to Kearney, Nebraska, for the centennial celebration, 100 years on the Lincoln Highway. - (mumbles) when the desert was inside the laptop on the keyboard. - He and I became known in the city as (murmurs). - Torbioern Lorensen, from Norway. (murmurs), Norway, north of the Arctic Circle. - It's cold up there. - No, not so cold compared to (mumbles) the cold.

Yes, I travel a lot in my old car, convertible, black Mustang. I have been traveling all over the United States, traveling and driving, feeling free when I drive alone. - You want to cross the highway and go in (murmurs). - We are temporary custodians of these vehicles. In 20, 30 or 40 years, someone else will have to be the custodian so that these cars do not end up in museums. We want them on the road, on tours like this, so people can see them, know what Packard is, know what Packard is all about, and be interested in owning one of these Packards one day.

That goal was achieved today in a small way. - Today we travel across the country on divided, limited-access interstate highways. Lincoln Highway has mostly been removed. The route of Interstate 80 has taken its toll on once-thriving cities, including those in Wyoming. I 80 now passes through places like Vosler and Medicine Bow (mumbles) and Fort Bridger. - Today, what is the objective? Get there as fast as we can. We don't stop at places like Rock River and Medicine Bow for fuel. We stopped at the big truck stops. We fill our tanks. We get back on the interstates and drive as fast as we can. - We have become such a fast society because today much of travel is simply the destination.

The act of travel itself has fallen by the wayside. The Lincoln Highway offers opportunity, no destination necessary. You can just get in the car and go as far as you want and sometimes it will only take you four hours, four days, four weeks. - Well, it's sad because many people think that the only way to get somewhere is the fastest speed on the road. That's boring. If you take I 80, you'll miss the fun of the old Lincoln Highway route and the Mom and Pop restaurant and tourist cabins. - Today we have a great opportunity to find these old pieces of the Lincoln Highway and just slow down.

The term that is used a lot is slow travel. How can I slow down and explore some of my own country similar to how early automobile travelers did in the early 20th century? - We have a new conception of our great country, of its immensity, of its varied landscapes, of its prosperity, of its happiness, of its unlimited resources, of its immense possibilities, of its goodness and hope. We are united to her by 1000 new ties of friendship, association and pride. Gladding by Effie Price. (honk) - For those who really want to experience America and relive what those early automobile pioneers experienced on the Lincoln Highway, get off the Interstate and look for those parts of the old highway.

Slow down and enjoy the pleasure of traveling by car. Discover the fascinating history of not only the Lincoln Highway, but also the United States itself. Step away from the mundane and ordinary and understand what those who pioneered the path knew. Getting there is half the fun. After 100 years on the Lincoln Highway, it's still the ride that counts. ♪ Down the road, how far are you going, man? ♪ We're looking for the Lincoln Highway ♪ Along the way (harmonica music)