Lincoln Highway Association Letter, March 31, 1915

Letter to Bayard H. Paine assuring him that the Lincoln Highway is a safe and convenient way to travel.

1915 Travel Journal Front Cover

Travel journal kept by Bayard H. Paine during a 1915 trip to Canada, California, and return to Grand Island, Nebraska from Truckee, California via the Lincoln Highway.

The following is an except from the journal describing the family's return trip from California to Grand Island Nebraska along the Lincoln Highway.

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Canadian Trip

In 1915 about July 10th after bank meetings-GBH [Grace Bentley Paine] & BHP [Bayard H. Paine] left with the three children on railroad trip which lasted until first week in September-just in time to get children in school. We bought round trip tourist tickets-stop over at every station and good for 9 months.

We went to Omaha, St. Paul-Minneapolis, Winnipeg, Calgary, Glacier, Illicit glazer [glacier' climbe [sic] with Swiss Guides, then Banff for several days. While there-Theodore Roosevelt and

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wife drove up in an open Victoria in front of bear dens. I called to Bayard Jr-come here Teddy Bear Roosevelt and he said Don't want to-would rather see real bears. Stopped at Vancouver, Victoria then by boat to Seattle to visit Dr. Frederick Bentley where we were entertained in their wonderful home about 4 days. He took us up to Mt. Rainier one night to see sun rise. Got caught in forest fire above and below us-waded in snow. Then to Portland & Frisco where the Panama Fair was visited several days. Then to Loz[?] Beach & Pasadena

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Then to San Diego to visit the San Diego Exposition where we rented a permanent roofed canvas walled cottage at Coronado Tent City on the big hotel ground. Father went on home by train and we got as far as Truckee California where we got off train to go and visit Lake Tahoe and met an old sheep man at the depot with a Ford car he had driven less than 500 miles. We bought in for $400 -a bank advancing me that and letter of credit from First Nat'l Bank, G. I. [Grand Island]

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in less than 3 minutes much to the sheep man's surprise who wouldn't trust me to run the car until he had counted the money twice.

We took car to Reno Nevada had all 4 wheels made the same size [and] bought a large tarpolean [sic] to sleep in and started home over Lincoln Highway with our railroad tickets- 2 full fare 3 half fares in our pockets (never got a cent back for them.) We had shipped all our camping equipment out to San Francisco from G.I. and now shipped our better clothes from Reno to G.I.

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We followed the Lincoln Highway which ran through Austin, O'Fallon, Eureka, Ely, Salt Lake where we stayed over Sunday at a hotel and bought a good tent; Ogden then followed the U.P. track. In the dessert [sic] near Fish Springs we encountered other cars were stuck here also, 17 people in all. One car carried neither food nor bedding and the others shared with them. The second day the five men of the party took our car, unloaded of every ounce of extra weight, B. driving, the others on the running board and ready to jump off and push whenever they came to a bad place. So got back to Fish Springs for water and food. We were about 19 days getting home, 10 days of rain. At

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Ogden joined up with Mr. and Mrs. Luther of L [?] N.Y. (and niece) who kept with me & spent one night in G.I. with me. While making this trip Miss Jeannette Regan and [?] Sorenson kept the office going nicely.

created: October 29, 2003 by Karen Keehr
up-dated: October 29, 2003