An Incomplete History and Record of American Racing with Occasional Diversions by Our Scribe

I decided some years ago to write at least a series of articles on American racing as it has evolved over the years. It was originally to be written for me to help me keep it all straight. The history of racing in America has not been covered in the depth it truly warrants until just in the past decade or so. Until recently it was nearly impossible to find a listing of the just the events that comprised the National Championship that the American Automobile Association (AAA) and the United States Auto Club (USAC) sanctioned, much less the results of those races. After much research and endless hours of toil, Phil Harms has produced such treasure trove of information. While much ink has been used to record the works of Ettore Bugatti or Enzo Ferrari, we now have a better idea of the genius of men such as Frank Kurtis or A.J. Watson thanks to the work of men like Gordon White and Gary Wayne.

In addition, the history of that peculiar and unique form of American racing, the board tracks, is now better known to those interested in this fascinating subject thanks to Dick Wallen and those who contributed to his volume on the subject. In a world in which there seems to be no end of books covering about possible topic in Formula One, Dick Wallen produced two volumes covering National Championship racing in the 1950s and 1960s. Greg Fielden has produced a multi-volume history of the Grand National series - now Winston Cup - of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). Until the Fielden volumes were published, the results of many early NASCAR Grand National races were either unknown or incomplete to most interested in this series.

There are many hopeful signs that more attention is being focused on the history of American racing. The number of books published on sports cars racing in America in the past decade has given many hope that the history of this form of racing will finally start being preserved. Pete Lyons has produced an excellent book on the Canadian-American Challenge Cup races, the Can-Am. Tim Considine has written what is probably the definitive book on Americans and Grand Prix racing. The books on the Indianapolis 500 are now gaining company on the bookshelves as books about sprint cars, midgets, and other forms of American racing are finding their way into print.

To me, what seems to be lacking is some sort of narrative that pulls the many and varied pieces of the story into a form so that there is some perspective given to it. What few books that attempt to give an overall look at American racing usually end up reading like a Dick and Jane story, very basic information and little or no real depth. In 1974, Albert Bochroch produced an excellent illustrated history of racing in American entitled American Auto Racing. In the years since then, I am unaware of book or even a series of articles that has tried to not only bring the story up to date, but fill in many of the gaps of the past. I keep hoping that Gordon Kirby would do this, but so far he hasn't.

Since nobody else seems to be crazy enough to take a shot at it right now, I think I will take a swing at it. This series cannot even dream of being a truly definitive look at American racing since there is really just too much of it to cover. I will endeavour to cover most of the high and low points, the major series, and those events which I find interesting for whatever reason. I will also try to provide some of the "politics" of American racing. Of course, I bring my own lens with me to examine this topic: certain topics I find exciting and interesting and others rate a yawn at best. There are some aspects of American racing that will not get much of a look, except in passing. That is, however, the nature of such ventures.

Well, here goes….

Back at the Beginning

The credit for the first motor contest is usually given to the Paris to Rouen concours of 22 July 1894. Although a steam-driven de Dion-Bouton of is usually credited as the first place finisher, the jury - yes, jury - decided to split the prize of 2,000 Francs between Robert Peugeot and René Panhard - the trial being for the manufacturers rather than the drivers. However, there was a similar contest in the same month 16 years before in the United States.

In 1875, the Wisconsin State Legislature created the ingredients for what could be correctly called a motor contest. The Madison Wisconsin State Journal of 24 July 1878, states that the legislature "offered a prize of $10,000 for a perfect steam wagon for general agricultural and hauling purposes to be able to stand such tests as a board if three Commissioners should propose; among other things, the contesting machines were to make a 200 mile trip along the country roads of the State, due north and south, haul a heavy wagon behind them, be able to plow, run threshing machines, and perform other feats such as the ingenuity or wisdom of the Commissioners might suggest."

Although the challenge was issued in 1875, it was not until the Summer if 1878 that "the great steam wagon contest," as 15 July 1878 issue of the Green Bay Daily State Gazette called it. The contest started from Green Bay on 15 July, a Monday, without the route to the destination, Madison, being clear to any of those concerned. Although it had been hoped that all six of the steam wagons entered would be participating in the endurance and capabilities contest, only two finally turned up at the starting point, the corner of Broadway and Dousman in Green Bay. The Sunday morning freight train from Oshkosh arrived with the entry from A.M. (Ans.) Farrand and Frank Schemer which was built at the J.F. Morse foundry in that town. The Madison entry of a Mr. Baker was in fine working Saturday before it was to be shipped to Green Bay from Watertown that evening after being driven there.

On Monday morning the Madison Wagon had not arrived and Mr. Baker conferred with the Commissioners and both Farrand and Cowles as to how to proceed. The steam wagon had not yet arrived at Watertown. It was decided that the Madison Wagon could, if possible, enter the contest at Fort Atkinson. There was also a Milwaukee Wagon, but it ran into problems prior to the start. Built by James Sheriff - the engine, and Richard Davis - the boiler, for Dr. Karouse of Sun Prairie, the single cylinder system failed to work properly and had to be scratched.

Looking like a fire engine pump of the day, the steam wagon was essentially a boiler on a carriage with the rear wheels driven by a chain drive system. The rear wheels were four feet eight inches in diameter and the front wheels have a diameter of four feet. The Oshkosh Wagon, as it was quickly labelled, weighed in at about 5,000 pounds. The inventor, Farrand was assisted by Eck. Gallagher and John Owen with Schermer also along for the journey.

The other steam wagon, built by E.T. Cowles, was driven in town on Sunday morning from his farm at Wequiock, not far from Green Bay. It was broadly similar in design to the Oshkosh Wagon, but had a horizon boiler and a rather complicated, overly complex (independent) suspension system and used a gear-driven transmission. That afternoon, the Cowles Wagon steamed up Washington Street and drew a considerable crowd in the process. Even at this late hour the exact route and even the exact starting time on Monday morning was an open question.

The starting time was originally announced on Monday morning as 9 o'clock, but the start was not until 11 o'clock due to the Cowles Wagon breaking through a culvert on its way to the starting point. The accident necessitated repairs to the governor and therefore a delay in the start. In the meantime, the two participants and Commissioners agreed to a plan where the Oshkosh Wagon stayed to the roads on the west side of the river and the Cowles Wagon to those on the east side of the river. The two would meet at Depere for a dinner and a reception hosted by the town in honour of the occasion.

The conditions laid down by the Wisconsin State Legislature were fairly straight forward to earn the $10,000 prize: the steam wagon had to be able to run at a speed of at least five miles in an hour of working time; be capable of climbing a grade of 200 feet to the mile; and demonstrate their practicality and applicability to general road and farm use. The Commissioner were tasked to attach heavy loads to the wagons, "test them in various ways," and conduct a "ploughing" match as they passed through Jefferson County at Olin's farm. The route to be followed was to follow the C&NW Rail Road as far south as Janesville and then from there to Beloit and finally into Madison, where the Commissioners would made a decision as the awarding of the prize monies.

The Oshkosh Wagon headed south from the corner of Broadway and Dousman towards Appleton, 89 miles away, while the Cowles Wagon was trundled off to the foundry to repair the injector which failed soon after the start. The initial hope was that it would catch up with the Oshkosh Wagon either that evening or the next morning. The Oshkosh Wagon arrived in Appleton on Tuesday at midday after spending the night in Wrightstown. As Farrand and crew were arriving in Appleton, Cowles was departing Green Bay - his machine leaving town with several toots from its whistle to the amusement of the townspeople. However, the Cowles Wagon was soon directed to take the freight train from Depere to Oshkosh.

On Wednesday morning, the Oshkosh Wagon departed Appleton shortly after 9 o'clock and arrived 80 minutes later in Menasha and then set of for Neenah, the "Flower of the Fox," where the crew enjoyed a luncheon at the Russell House. The start was delayed until after 1 o'clock as the Commissioners trued to ascertain the location of the "Green Bay machine." It was at this point that the Commissioners directed Cowles to proceed to Oshkosh. Heavy rains on a new road had made the progress of the steam wagon virtually impossible.

On Thursday, 18 July, the Cowles Wagon finally reached Oshkosh at just before 10 o'clock in the evening courtesy of a flatcar on the C&N Railway. The Oshkosh Wagon had arrived there under its own power, covering the 14 miles in two hours. Meanwhile, the Madison Wagon finally arrived in Watertown on Thursday and was directed to proceed to Oshkosh to participate in a series of tests. First thing on Friday morning, however, the Cowles Wagon had to spend time at the Morse machine shop and foundry undergoing repairs on a number of problems that seemed to be plaguing the steam wagon.

The program of events on Saturday was announced on Friday afternoon and would commence with a hauling test. This was predicated on the Madison Wagon arriving and the repairs to the Cowles Wagon being completed in time. The tests given by the Commissioners would be held at the Jones & Fosters lumber yard, after which the steam wagons would depart on their journey to Madison. Any machine not ready to depart at 1 o'clock in the afternoon would simply have to leave as soon as it could and catch up with the other(s) as quickly as possible.

The tests at Oshkosh got underway with the Green Bay Wagon finally ready to perform after spending the entire previous day being repaired. Without any word as to where the Madison Wagon was or when it would arrive, the Green Bay and Oshkosh steam wagons squared off against one another on Saturday morning. The first test was to haul a load of approximately three tons from the Foster & Jones lumber mill to the Oshkosh Fair grounds. Each steam wagon hitched a wagon to the machine and was then asked to negotiate the roads around the lumber mill, the route being one block around the mill on the loose sawdust which comprised the road surface.

After circling the block, the steam wagons headed for the Fair grounds hauling their loads. The Green Bay Wagon was in the lead with the Oshkosh Wagon trailing closely behind. After creeping closer to the Green Bay Wagon, the Oshkosh Wagon pulled out to pass the lead steam machine. Unfortunately, a wheel of the loaded wagon struck a hole on the outer edge of the road and the impact broke the log chain attaching the wagon to the steam machine. After a quick inspection, a toggle was devised to attach the wagon once again to the steam machine. When the Oshkosh Wagon started to pull off with its load, the jerk of the acceleration broke a pin, which necessitated one of the crew hastening to the machine shop to obtain a replacement.

This delay and the late start caused by the wait for the Madison machine led the Commissioners to ask that the loads be carried about on the streets of the town rather than being hauled to the Fair grounds as originally intended. This led to further excitement for the Oshkosh Wagon. With what was described as "considerable headway" in the Green Bay Daily State Gazette in its Sunday 21 July edition, the engineer of the Oshkosh machine was forced to suddenly "hold back" on the power after encountering a frightened horse in front of the Beckwith House. Without any means to effectively brake the heavily loaded wagon it was hauling, the lumber wagon veered sideways, the tongue being snapped off and the wagon crashing into the sidewalk and breaking one of the front wheels.

The load in the lumber wagon hauled about town by the Oshkosh Wagon tipped the scales at 9,100 pounds. Although the load of the Green Bay Wagon was not weighed, it was determined to roughly equal in weight. After dinner, the two steam wagons proceeded to the Fair grounds for the next test on the agenda.

The Commissioners asked each of the steam wagons to complete a lap of the one mile horse racing track. The Oshkosh Wagon did its initial laps of the track with a set of outside tires - or "shoes," in place, with a best time of 4 minutes and 35 (or 36) seconds being recorded. The Green Bay Wagon made three attempts and did not complete any of them without stopping for with overheated journals, a lack of power ("steam") or other mechanical problems. However, the Cowles crew soon thought that they had solved the problems.

Both steam wagons then lined up to do a lap head-to-head. At the start, the Green Bay Wagon got away much more quickly than the Oshkosh Wagon. The Cowles machine was obviously faster on the track, pulling away to open a gap of what was estimated to be nearly a quarter of a mile! As the steam wagon closed in on the distance post (the finishing post), it suddenly made a loud "Bang!" and coasted to a stop and refused to budge. The Oshkosh Wagon then sailed past the distance post with a time of 4 minutes and 41 seconds, accomplishing this time without its "shoes" in place.

This is perhaps the first recorded contest of self-propelled machines on a closed circuit. It certainly was a race since the object was to establish which of the machines could make it to the distance post first. This does lend a degree of validity to the old saying concerning the origin of motor racing: it was the result of the owner of the second automobile asking the owner of the first if he would like to see how fast they could go…. It must be noted that despite the extreme heat, the race - which is what Madison Wisconsin State Journal called it - attracted a considerable crowd.

After the laps of the Fair ground track were completed, repairs to the Green Bay machine commenced. The Commissioner had set 5 o'clock as the departure time for the steam machines to renew their journey to Madison by way of Waupun, 34 miles away. Each crew was allowed to determine the roads to be used. The actual starting time ended up being 7 o'clock. The newly repaired Cowles machine got barely two miles outside Oshkosh when it stopped, the problem being traced to the driving gears. The gears were removed and rushed to the Morse workshop where, once again, repairs were undertaken. The bearing were turned and the steam wagon was able to head south towards Waupun and arriving there at about 8 o'clock in the morning on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Oshkosh Wagon had proceeded towards Waupun and arrived there at just after 3 o'clock that morning. It had stopped for nearly two hours waiting for the moon to rise, there being no provisions for lighting its path. It had taken six hours and 25 minutes of travel time to cover the distance. It then departed at 4 o'clock in the afternoon and entered Watertown, 82 miles away, four hours and 30 seconds (!) later. On Monday, it arrived in Fort Atkinson at half past 11 o'clock that morning, covering the 21 miles in two hours and 10 minutes. The Oshkosh then sat awaiting word from the Commissioners concerning the test scheduled for that location.

On its way to Waupun, the Green Bay Wagon had another series of mishaps which slowed its progress considerably. It finally managed to reach Watertown, but the Oshkosh Wagon was now far ahead.

The Oshkosh Wagon participated in a plowing trial outside Fort Atkinson on the farm of a Mr. Snell. The Commissioners stated that the trial was conducted in a very satisfactory manner. The steam wagon used a gang of two plows to plow most of a 60-acre field, with a crowd of over 500 on hand to watch the event. After the trial, the steam wagon headed south to Janesville and reached Milton Junction, 13 miles, in two hours and 15 minutes. It then covered the eight miles to Janesville in an hour and two minutes. The Oshkosh crew arrived in Janesville at about 9 o'clock in the morning on Wednesday, the 24th, and the Cowles crew finally managed to arrive at 7 o'clock in the evening.

The Oshkosh Wagon did not linger long in Janesville. It set out for Madison, 40 miles away. After seven hours and eight minutes, it reached the State Capital that night, at about the same time that the Green Bay machine was arriving in Janesville. On Thursday morning, as crowds gathered to watch the Oshkosh Wagon perform laps around the Capital Park, the Cowles machine was reported to be heading for Madison.

The Oshkosh Wagon covered the 201 miles from Fort Howard in 33 hours and 27 seconds, beating the target time of 40 hours - five miles per hour - by a healthy margin. During the entire journey, the steam wagon pulled a wagon weighing 3,500 pounds. The Oshkosh Wagon weighed 4,800 pounds and when carrying enough coal and water for eight miles, the weight was 6,600 pounds. Its best time was the 57 mile stretch between Johnson's Creek and Fort Atkinson, which was covered in 11 hours and 30 minutes.

Eventually, two of the Commissioners travelling with the Green Bay Wagon arrived in Madison and reported that the machine was in a ditch outside Jefferson. While the Cowles crew struggled with their machine in a ditch, the Farrand crew proudly displayed their machine and performed laps around the streets of Madison. Needless to say, you can figure out the winner of these endurance trial.

While the confrontation on the race track does not get credit for being the first race, the Paris to Bordeaux and return event does. This event covered approximately 1,200 kilometers and was won by Emile Levassor in a Panhard-Levassor, leading three Peugeots across the line in this race. In November 1895, the owner of the Chicago Times-Herald, H.H. Kohlsaat, sponsored the first recognized American automobile race. Originally scheduled for 2 November, it wound up being postponed until 28 November, Thanksgiving Day, when only two starters were ready although more than a hundred entries were received. It was decided to hold an "exhibition" between the two available starters on the original date of the race.

The two participants in the exhibition were Charles Mueller in his father's Mueller-Benz and J. Frank Duryea in a car which he and his brother Charles manufactured. Both entrants used gasoline engines, something of note at this time. The exhibition was from the start point at the corner of Halstad and 55th Street north to Waukegan and return, about 92 miles. The Mueller-Benz covered the distance first and received a prize of $500 for his efforts, while Duryea failed to finish after tangling with a farm wagon and being forced off the road.

On Thanksgiving Day, 28 November, the "Chicago Times-Herald Contest" for "Motorcycles" was held, the term being suggested rather than "horseless carriage" which was then the common - albeit awkward - term for such machines. The course was from Chicago to Elgin and return, 54 miles. The starters now numbered six, but they also faced a challenge which only added to the already interesting problems of getting to Elgin and returning: the night before the race, Chicago had experienced a snowstorm which dumped a foot of snow on the town. This made the already poor roads of the area just that much worse - plus, it was bitterly cold.

The six starters, two of which were electric-powered, left at intervals with J. Frank Duryea being the first to depart. The second car didn't get very far since it ran afoul of the weather and a streetcar, the latter which it collided with. Charles Mueller experienced difficulties in getting to the start point and missed his original starting time, finally getting underway well over an hour after Duryea instead of merely minutes.

Although Mueller crossed the line only 24 minutes after Duryea - who covered the distance in seven hours and 53 minutes, the victory was denied Mueller and given to Duryea since although his elapsed was faster, the time was calculated from his original starting time. None of the other starters finished and Duryea pocketed a tidy $2,000 for his troubles.

Duryea was the victor in the next American race, the site being New York City. This race was sponsored by Cosmopolitan Magazine. The race started in the Bronx at Kingsbridge City Hall and covered the 30 miles along the Hudson to the finish at Irvington-on-Hudson. This time Duryea picked $3,000 in prize money, a very tidy sum for the day.

As the number of automobiles started to proliferate, the urge to use them as a means of competition also took a turn upward. At the end of the 1890's and the early days of the 1900's, automobiles were very expensive to buy and maintain. As with most things of this nature, the upper - or sporting - class led the way in both the acquisition of the automobile and the use of it as an item of sporting interest.

References

Newspapers:
Green Bay, Wisconsin The Daily State Gazette

Madison, Wisconsin The Wisconsin State Journal

Books:
Allan E. Brown, The History of America's Speedways Past & Present (Second Edition), Comstock Park, Michigan: Allan E. Brown, 1994.

Peter Helck, The Checkered Flag, New York: Castle Books, 1961.