PBS - Horatio's Drive: America's First Road Trip

The American roadways are filled with people driving their cars cross country, experiencing all the union has to offer from inside a motor vehicle. While today this seems routine, in 1903 it was unheard of, until Dr. Horatio Nelson Jackson made such a journey a reality. A fifty dollar bet propelled Jackson to drive an automobile from San Francisco to New York City in a trip that required 63 days and some clever troubleshooting. Arriving in New York, Nelson proved that this "horseless carriage" was the future of travel. Ken Burns documents this trip using archival photography and the meticulous research that made Burns' films such as THE CIVIL WAR and BASEBALL such favorites among history buffs.