Report on Transcontinental Trip
11/3/1919
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This is a report of the 1919 Transcontinental Motor Convoy, documenting its movement from Washington, DC, to San Francisco, California, along the Lincoln Highway. Lieutenant Colonel Dwight D. Eisenhower, a 28-year-old officer grown bored with his peacetime posting at Fort Meade, was one of the army observers on the convoy.
The U.S. War Department had wanted to know if the country’s roads could handle long-distance emergency movements of motorized army units across the nation, since vehicles had played a vital role in World War I. As a test, the convoy of 80 military vehicles and 280 officers and enlisted personnel set out for California from Washington, DC, on July 7, 1919.
In the manner of the wilderness scouts of the 19th century, army personnel — mounting Harley-Davidsons instead of horses — ran ahead of the convoy to check out the conditions that lay just ahead. The vehicles broke down; got stuck in dust, quicksand, and mud; and sank when roads and bridges collapsed.
The U.S. War Department had wanted to know if the country’s roads could handle long-distance emergency movements of motorized army units across the nation, since vehicles had played a vital role in World War I. As a test, the convoy of 80 military vehicles and 280 officers and enlisted personnel set out for California from Washington, DC, on July 7, 1919.
In the manner of the wilderness scouts of the 19th century, army personnel — mounting Harley-Davidsons instead of horses — ran ahead of the convoy to check out the conditions that lay just ahead. The vehicles broke down; got stuck in dust, quicksand, and mud; and sank when roads and bridges collapsed.
After 62 days, the convoy reached San Francisco. It had covered 3,251 miles, averaging 58 miles a day at an average speed of 6 miles an hour. The official report of the War Department, chronicling the 230 motor accidents of the convoy, concluded that the existing roads in the United States were “absolutely incapable of meeting the present day traffic requirements.”
The experience, which Eisenhower later described as “a genuine adventure” left a lifelong impression on him. When President 37 years later, he signed into law the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, funding the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways which established more than 41,000 miles of superhighway.
The experience, which Eisenhower later described as “a genuine adventure” left a lifelong impression on him. When President 37 years later, he signed into law the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, funding the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways which established more than 41,000 miles of superhighway.
This primary source comes from the Collection DDE-WHCF: White House Central Files (Eisenhower Administration).
National Archives Identifier: 1055071
Full Citation: Report on Transcontinental Trip; 11/3/1919; PPF 1075 Greany, Maj. William C.; President's Personal Files, 1953 - 1961; Collection DDE-WHCF: White House Central Files (Eisenhower Administration); Dwight D. Eisenhower Library, Abilene, KS. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/transcontinental-convoy-report, March 29, 2024]Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.