Cold Open

It’s midday on July 16th, 1909, in the mountains of Bitter Creek, Wyoming.

On a treacherous path through the Rockies, 22-year-old Alice Ramsey guns the engine of a dark green Maxwell Model 30 automobile.

Alice’s car is stuck halfway up a steep incline, its wheels spinning as it struggles for grip. It’s a hot day, and Alice knows she is risking overheating the engine. But she can’t see another way to get up the hill.

Outside the car, three young volunteer crewmembers wait with giant wooden blocks. As the roadster finally grips the stony ground and jerks forward a few feet, Alice lets out a holler.

Then, on her signal, the crew slams down the wooden blocks behind the back wheels, preventing the car from rolling back down the hill. Alice lets out a mighty sigh and tells everyone to take a break.

Alice Ramsey is driving all the way across America. And if she makes it to San Francisco, she’ll become the first woman to complete the journey. But it’s been a grueling trip. The weather has been against them from day one. And the car’s cloth roof has offered them little protection from the elements.

Now, the mighty Rocky Mountains are Alice’s latest obstacle.

She takes a swig from a canteen and nods to her crew to get ready. With all her might, Alice then cranks the handle to start the car up again.

Then, she climbs back behind the wheel, guns the engine once more, and inches them forward up the mountain.

It will take Alice Ramsey and her crew all day to climb the path through Bitter Creek. And once they reach the other side, they will still have a thousand miles to drive to reach their destination. But with her mechanical skills and her sheer refusal to give up, Alice Ramsey will eventually arrive in San Francisco and become the first woman to drive across America on August 7th, 1909.

Introduction

From Noiser and Airship, I’m Lindsay Graham and this is History Daily.

History is made every day. On this podcast—every day—we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world.

Today is August 7th, 1909: Alice Ramsey Completes Her Drive Across America. 

Act One: Driving Lessons

It’s the summer of 1908, in Hackensack, New Jersey, a year before Alice Ramsey and her crew get stuck in the Rocky Mountains.

Outside her family home, 21-year-old Alice cautiously steps down the front stoop, giggling nervously. Walking behind her is her husband, John Ramsey. He covers Alice’s eyes with his hands and guides her as she walks, because John has a surprise for her.

As they make it off the final step, John says Alice's gift is waiting right in front of her. Alice blindly stretches out her left arm. And when her fingers brush against cool metal, she grabs John’s hands and pulls them away from her eyes. Then she gasps. Alice is face-to-face with a brand new, fire-engine-red Maxwell automobile.

Delighted, Alice throws her arms around her husband. But John just grins and tells her that there’s more to come. He's paid for driving lessons with a trained professional—and her first class is starting right now.

Alice’s infatuation with the automobile began a few weeks ago. She was out riding near her family home when a car flew past. The loud noise spooked her horse. But as she soothed the animal, Alice couldn’t stop thinking about what she’d just seen. She was entranced by it—she marveled at the vehicle’s power and speed and, as soon as she got home, she started talking to her husband John about it at every available opportunity. John didn’t share her new obsession. But when a car salesman from the Maxwell Company passed by the house a few weeks later, he knew he couldn’t say no.

Cars are an increasingly common sight on American streets. Companies like Ford, Cadillac, Studebaker, and Buick are all fighting for sales in the rapidly expanding market. And nearly all these manufacturers and their salesmen target male drivers. But one has taken a different approach.

The Maxwell Company has decided that their vehicles should be for both men and women. It means that when their salesmen make house calls, they have two potential customers—the husbands and their wives.

And when the Maxwell salesman knocked on John Ramsey’s door that day, it didn’t take long for him to make a sale. As a prominent businessman in New Jersey, John could afford the considerable $825 sticker price. And he was certain it would all be worth it when he saw Alice’s reaction.

He was right. It only takes two lessons with a Maxwell driving instructor for Alice to learn how to use her new vehicle. And impressed, this instructor reports back to the Maxwell Company that Alice may be someone worth keeping an eye on. She’s young, she's attractive—and she can drive, so she could be useful for future marketing campaigns.

So, as the Maxwell Company watches her progress, Alice spends as much time as she can behind the wheel of her new car. Within just weeks of learning to drive, she's already racked up over 6000 miles, and, at the end of the summer, Alice eagerly enters an endurance driving challenge. The Montauk Point race is a 200-mile trip from the heart of New York to the far end of Long Island. Alice is the sole female competitor and finishes third, winning herself a bronze medal—and a glowing write-up in the local newspapers. Alice is thrilled by the attention, and the press coverage doesn’t go unnoticed at Maxwell Headquarters either. Soon, their sales agents approach Alice with an idea: a drive all the way across America.

It would essentially be a publicity stunt. When the journey’s been tried in the past, it’s always gained national attention from the press. But the Maxwell Company is certain that Alice’s attempt will win even more attention. Because of the handful of people who have completed this coast-to-coast drive, none of them have been a woman.

Alice talks the idea over with her husband. It will mean being away from home for weeks, and they have a young baby to care for. But John is supportive. So Alice agrees to take on the Maxwell Company’s challenge.

She won’t travel alone, though. Joining her on her nearly 4,000-mile journey will be a crew consisting of her two sisters-in-law, as well as a 16-year-old neighbor who has become a close friend. But America’s road network in 1908 is still primitive. With only 150 miles of the planned route built for cars, if Alice is to succeed on her epic drive, she will need skill, daring, and plenty of determination.

Act Two: I Would Drive 3,000 Miles

It’s 10 AM, on June 9th, 1909, outside the Maxwell Automobile Salesroom in New York City, a year after Alice Ramsey decided to make history as the first woman to drive across America.

After months of planning, the day has finally come when she begins her challenge. But before Alice can get going, she has some marketing commitments to fulfil. Now 22 years old, Alice poses for photographs on the sidewalk. By her side are three other women. They’re all wearing the same long raincoats because today's weather is awful. But despite the rain, the women all smile, excited for the road ahead.

With the advertising responsibilities then taken care of, two of Alice’s crew climb into the back seat of their waiting car. It’s so overloaded with luggage, provisions, and spare equipment that it is difficult for them to squeeze in.

And before Alice and the final crew member can join them, Alice must get the car started. The engine requires a crank to get it going. And as she rounds the front of the car to turn the handle, two men step forward to offer her assistance. Politely, Alice declines. She has nearly 4,000 miles to travel. And if she can’t get the car going herself, she won’t get very far.

So, gripping the handle, she gives with a heavy heel, and the engine starts. Alice then slides over the passenger seat and into position behind the wheel, followed swiftly by her friend. Their journey is about to begin.

It’s been six years since the first successful drive across America. That took two men 63 days and 600 gallons of gasoline. But only a dozen other drivers have replicated the feat since.

One reason is the lack of any discernible road network in America. Driving in the major cities is simple enough with their paved streets, but most of the country roads are nothing but dirt tracks, pathways that are still mainly used for travel on horseback.

Then there is figuring out the route itself. One advantage Alice has over the first men to make this trip is the Automobile Association of America's Blue Book. It’s a new guide designed to help drivers get from one place to another. But the Blue Book is still often frustratingly vague. Instructions like “turn right at the red house” won’t be much use to Alice if the owners of the red house have recently painted it green.

But despite all the obstacles that lie ahead, Alice is excited to get going. With a top speed of just 40 miles per hour and oil-burning headlights to guide the way, Alice’s new Maxwell zooms out of New York, heading west.

But despite all their preparations, nothing can prepare the women for what Mother Nature has in store. Ohio and Illinois’ unpaved roads prove challenging enough, but once they reach Iowa, Alice’s real problems begin.

Rain turns the roads into a quagmire. Rivers burst their banks. And bridges become impassable. All Alice can do is wait for the rains to ease and the waters to fall. But the delays are frustrating. She knows many Americans think women shouldn’t drive cars at all. And if they take too long to cross the country, or worse, are forced back, Alice can imagine what the headlines will be.

So, despite the foul weather, she’s determined to push on. But luck still seems against them. When they reach Nebraska, they even get caught up in a police investigation when a bad-tempered sheriff decides that, as outsiders, they’re suspects in a murder case. It takes the women hours to convince him to let them go. It’s one more delay Alice didn’t need.

Then comes the most perilous part of the journey: The Rocky Mountains. The roads are steep and narrow, winding past terrifying sheer drops. At times, Alice can barely stop her car from slipping backward and careening toward the chasms below.

But Alice comes up with an ingenious solution. She has her crew place large blocks of wood behind the car to stop the Maxwell sliding back down the paths they’ve just climbed. It takes a long time to make any progress this way, but Alice figures it beats them ending up at the bottom of a ravine.

And thankfully, once they’re over the mountains, the driving will be easier, downhill all the way to the ferry house at Oakland, California. There, Alice will drive her Maxwell onto a boat that will carry her across the bay to San Francisco—and into the record books.

Act Three: The Finish Line

It’s August 7th, 1909, in San Francisco Bay, California, nearly two months after Alice Ramsey and her companions left New York.

Standing on the ferry from Oakland, Alice watches as the city of San Francisco looms out of the mist ahead. There is a buzz on board the boat. Passengers who have been following Alice’s adventures in the newspapers crowd around her and her Maxwell car. Some pose behind the wheel. Others ask her to sign their ferry tickets and newspapers as souvenirs.

Alice is happy to oblige. But as comfortable as she is with the attention, a part of her just wants to be back in the car and on the road. This final leg comes with both happiness at her achievement and sorrow that her journey is coming to an end.

Once the ferry has docked, Alice cranks the handle on her Maxwell one final time. The car purrs to life. And then, to cheers from the crowd watching on the dockside, Alice drives off the boat.

Her 3800-mile journey is over. She has become the first woman to drive across America—and she’s done it in 59 days, four days faster than the first men to make the crossing. But Alice doesn’t stick around on the West Coast to enjoy her triumph for long. While her crew chooses to stay in San Francisco to see the sights, Alice returns home by train, eager to be reunited with her husband and two-year-old son as quickly as possible.

Alice will remain an enthusiastic motorist for the rest of her life. She will cross America thirty more times, with each journey a little easier than the last as roads and infrastructure steadily improve. Sitting beside her on many of those trips will be her husband John, who will never learn to drive, having never seen the need. And, in all her time driving, Alice will only ever get one ticket - for making an illegal U-turn.

By the time Alice dies in 1983, America will have been transformed by the automobile. Its cities will have been reshaped and the country carved up by vast highways. And driving from coast to coast will no longer be the epic challenge of skill and bravery it was when Alice Ramsey completed her groundbreaking trip across the country on August 7th, 1909. 

Outro

Next on History Daily. August 8th, 1988. A wave of student protests against Myanmar’s socialist dictator leads to a ruthless military crackdown.

From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham.

Audio editing by Muhammad Shahzaib.

Sound design by Gabriel Gould.

Supervising Sound Designer Matthew Filler.

Music by Thrumm.

This episode is written and researched by Owen Paul Nicholls.

Edited by Scott Reeves.

Managing producer Emily Burke.

Executive Producers are William Simpson for Airship and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.