Cross Country Motor Tour, 1919!

Louise Boyd, ever the intrepid traveler, took the train back to Buffalo, New York in the summer of 1919 to make a cross-country motor tour at a time when most of the roads outside of cities were dirt or gravel. She brought along her chauffeur and purchased a new Pierce-Arrow Limousine just like that of President Wilson (Louise was never going to travel in anything but first-class conveyances!). Her diary of that trip describes the roads, the towns, the landscape, her interactions with others, and what she ate and where she stayed. Still relatively young, 31 years old, her journaling is that of an experienced traveler who has yet to find her true calling, but the curious, hardy, humorous woman comes alive in the pages of her journal. I don't know if she was the first woman to drive across the United States, but she was surely one of the first!

US Motor Tour 1919 – July 2

Dixie Highway between Bowling Green and Rudolph excellent, but only had a few miles of it. Found map ‘poor’ and hard to follow! Saw only white horses through here! Ate Dinner at Defiance, Ohio….rooms looked fair but food (75 cents) was awful!. Steak could not be chewed and “Wilted Lettuce Salad”, truly was! Man said, “Is you folks from Frisco? and I said, “Yes, we folks is a long ways from home!

US Motor Tour 1919 - July 10

Reached Marshfield at 5PM, decided to stay, and then changed our minds. Bought food and headed for Eau Claire. Had dinner by beautiful river at 7:30. Arrived Eau Claire about 11PM went to Galloway Hotel, full, not a hole or corner. Telephoned within a radius of 25 miles, all full, Carnival at Eau Claire. Ate midnight meal in cafeteria and left at 2:30AM. I took the wheel and drove all night till 7AM. Much of road under construction! Moon went down at 3:20AM after beautiful display with clouds!