#308 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Friday March 25)
Good morning,
THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY
One of the best books of the year is called The Lincoln Highway. Its name is that of the first overland auto road built in the United States. The story of the Lincoln Highway is pretty interesting. Originally the concept was championed by an association of automobile enthusiasts, with a route that was to begin at Times Square in New York and run all the way to Lincoln Park in San Francisco. It was to be a toll-free highway (a “free” way). Originally proposed in 1913, construction began but World War I delayed construction in earnest until 1921. The Lincoln Highway was conceived and begun in the same time period as the approval of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. It was a time when many places and monuments were named for Lincoln and other Union leaders, as the Civil War was 50 years in the past and beginning to fade in memory. At the same time, this also was the period when many Southern military bases were named for Confederate figures, as the South developed the “lost cause” myth, the KKK was on the rise and Jim Crow was in full bloom.
Interestingly, the highway followed a number of historic routes (the following is from the Department of Transportation):
In the East, the Lincoln Highway incorporated a road laid out by Dutch colonists of New Jersey before 1675.
The route in Pennsylvania followed the 62-mile Philadelphia to Lancaster Pike, the first extensive turnpike in the United States (completed in 1796), and a British military trail built in 1758…during the French and Indian War.
A section in Ohio followed an ancient Indian trail known as the Ridge Road.
In the West, the Lincoln Highway used sections of the Mormon Trail (the route along which Brigham Young led his Mormon followers to Utah), as well as the route of the Overland Stage Line and the Pony Express.
Entering California, a motorist on the Lincoln Highway crossed the Sierra Nevada through Donner Pass, named after the Donner Party, which became stranded after attempting to cross through the pass too late in the winter of 1846-1847. If a driver didn’t want to recall the ill-fated Donner Party (which resulted in cannibalism to survive), a driver could follow an alternate route that once was a pioneer stage coach route.
One can follow much of the route today on I-80. The U.S. Department of Transportation describes the route and timing when the road opened as follows: “The highly publicized trip to San Francisco took 34 days-34 days of mud pits in Iowa, sand drifts in Nevada and Utah, radiators boiling over, flooded roads, cracked axles, and enthusiastic greetings in every town that thought it had a chance of being on the new highway.”
One person who took the Lincoln Highway in the 20s was one Dwight David Eisenhower, whose experience stayed with him until the 1950s, when he initiated the U.S. Interstate Highway system. Here’s more on the history of the Lincoln Highway: https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/lincoln.cfm
GETTING ACROSS THE COUNTRY
Learning about the Lincoln Highway gave rise to a consideration of the various means for making it across the country. It seems the shortest route by auto today is taking I-10 from Florida to Southern California It is a little over 2,300 miles and takes several days. But how long did prior “fastest routes” take? From the time of Lewis and Clark to the transcontinental railroad to The Lincoln Highway, what were the relative speeds and experiences?
Lewis & Clark. Back in 1803, President Jefferson sent the Captains, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, across the country. It took them two years to head out and return.
Wagon Trains took six months. Stage coaches could, with constant refreshing of horses, make the journey in 25 days.
Transcontinental Railroad. The railroad changed everything, shortening the journey from the Midwest to the west to only four days.
Then along came automobiles…followed by airplanes and jets…and travel formally measured in days and months became measured in hours.
WORDS ON INFRASTRUCTURE—NO LONGER ROOTING FOR THE HOME TEAM
We are now in a world where those out of power are not rooting for those in power in serving the needs of the nation. Even when one supported something before, one must turn against it when the other party is in power. In March 2020, former president Trump supported a $2 trillion infrastructure program. He said at the time, “This is the time to craft an infrastructure overhaul…It should be VERY BIG & BOLD, Two Trillion Dollars, and be focused solely on jobs and rebuilding the once great infrastructure of our Country!”
Now we have the $2 trillion bill, much of which Mr. Trump once supported. And yet the Republicans in Congress did not support this measure when the Democrats occupied the White House and controlled Congress. That said, many Republican legislators are now taking credit for (and running for reelection on) the projects being pursued in their districts that are funded by this bill.
HOW QUICKLY THE SPINELESS FALL IN LINE
Just a reminder of the words of Kevin McCarthy, presumably the next Speaker of the House, in the aftermath of the January 6th insurrection. At one point he displayed moral fiber:
“Some say the riots were cause by antifa. There’s absolutely no evidence of that, and conservatives should be the first to say it. ... Most Americans want neither inaction nor retribution. They want durable, bipartisan justice. That path is still available, but it is not the path we are on today. That doesn’t mean the president is free from fault. The president bears responsibility for Wednesday’s attack on Congress by mob rioters. He should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding.”
These views have, of course, been subject to Mr. McCarthy’s “self-revisionism.” Apparently, legitimate public discourse by tourists on a stroll through the Capital sounds a whole lot better than armed thugs beating up police officers and threatening the lives of our elected leaders. Some portion of the base will be happy. Political expediency and the raw pursuit of power motivates the current Republican party.
Have a good day,
Glenn
From the archives: