What are you doing this summer? Cub Reporter Julia Lawrence has an exciting adventure which she is going to share with us. Julia and her father Johnny are traveling half-way across the country to commemorate the 1919 military convoy across the Lincoln Highway. Julia is going to submit “blogs” of her adventures along the route and we will learn about her first-hand experience as well as learn the history behind the trip. Below is a map of the original journey and additional details about the convoy.
Do you have an adventure you would like to share? If you are under the age of 18, live in Lee County and are reading this page, YOU are a Cub Reporter. This is your page and you are invited to write for it! Share your summer stories with other Cub Reporters. All you have to do is submit your story and pictures to with a contact name and phone number. Your parents will have to give permission for us to publish your story and picture. Please let us know what you’re doing and experience the fun of being a published Cub Reporter! There’s nothing like it and your family will be so proud!
)
(From Wikipedia.com)
The Transcontinental Motor Convoys were two US Army convoys that crossed the United States from Washington, DC to the west coast. The first convoy in 1919 traveled from Washington, DC to San Francisco on the then still incomplete Lincoln Highway, the first road across America. It was the first motor convoy to cross North America from the east coast to the west coast. The second in 1920 traveled from Washington, DC to San Diego via the Bankhead Highway. Both convoys were undertaken to determine how well military troops could be moved from the Eastern United States to the Western United States.
Dwight D. Eisenhower’s experience as a member of the first 1919 Transcontinental Convoy on the Lincoln Highway and his appreciation for the German Autobahn led him to initiate support for the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 eventually resulting in the establishment of the Interstate Highway System.
The convoy, consisting of eighty-one vehicles, was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Charles W. McClure. It departed from the zero milestone in Washington, DC on July 7, 1919. During the sixty-two day trip, the convoy passed through 350 villages and towns and arrived in San Francisco on September 6, four days behind schedule, with only seventy-two vehicles. En route, the convoy found bridges collapsing beneath the weight of their vehicles and exceedingly poor roads after the end of the main paved segment of the Lincoln Highway in Illinois. The trip had averaged fifty-eight miles per day—a mere six miles per hour.
The convoy’s mission was to test the ability of the United States to respond in the event that California was attacked by an “Asiatic enemy” and was meant to be self-reliant, treating all the area it passed over as potential enemy territory. It included an engineering unit to construct bridges and improve roads to make them passable for US truck movement. Twenty-four officers, 15 War Department staff observers, and 258 enlisted men were part of the convoy. 21 men injured during the trip were left behind for treatment
)
DISPATCH FROM THE CONVOY
CUB REPORTER: JULIA LAWRENCE
June 6, 2009—Today we got started on our convoy across the U.S.A. We are reenacting the 1919 military transcontinental convoy across the Lincoln Highway. Do you know why we’re doing this? Answer: To support our veterans and troops. First, we started with eating breakfast at home with my mom, my dad, Mr. Lamar, Mrs. Jewell, and me. We had eggs, biscuits, sausage, and bacon. Next, we got some pictures in front of our military vehicles. It was very sad to see mom’s face. We won’t see each other for 3 weeks. Now we are on our way. Then finally after 3 or 4 hours of driving from Alabama into Georgia, including going thru downtown Atlanta. When we got to the campground we set up our tent and I got to see a show about the Cherokee Indians and about where they lived and what they ate. After that, Mrs. Jewell and I went to get a shower. It felt really good. Last, I played with the friends I met at the state park.
Fun facts: We traveled about 200 miles. We got to Tugaloo State Park in North Georgia.
Our Sponsors
Color Your Family Contest!
Print out the form and start drawing!