A road going west

In a 1913 Chalmers auto, Robert Abrey stopped in Saratoga on Tuesday with a reminder to us all about the history of travel in the West.

A farmer from Norfolk, England, Robert and his wife Jane took off from New York on June 4. He was inspired by his antique, made-in-Detroit car (and a lot of historical reading) to travel to San Francisco on the Lincoln Highway. He had been reading about what was called the Great Race and decided to go on a mission of his own with Jane accompanying him in an RV.

The Great Race refers to a 1908 trek from New York to Paris. The last stop in the United States was at San Francisco, then the competitors would go north to the polar ice caps, catch a ship, and be on their way to Europe. The race helped auto manufacturers, of course, but it held a special significance for rural, Western communities. Before this, no one had considered a cross country journey through all weather conditions by auto. When the American public caught wind of the Great Race on the Lincoln Highway, they were more interested and enlightened to the possibility of auto tourism. It also made public the need to improve roads in Wyoming.

In Wyoming, citizens immediately understood the significance that this race brought to their rural communities.

With good roads, they could expect tourists and businessmen in the towns that needed to boost their economies. Communities worked hard to build the roads themselves while also seeking funds from state and federal governments.

The Great Race spurred this push for auto travel, as competitors hailed from different states and continents, providing interest on a national and international level. The Germans ultimately won the 1908 competition, but the effects of the publicized events helped Western states for years to come, according to Western Wyoming Community College.