NEBRASKAland Magazine is dedicated to outstanding photography and informative writing with an engaging mix of articles and photos highlighting Nebraska’s outdoor activities, parklands, wildlife, history and people.
Issue link: https://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/377644
A Brief History On the Road in 1916 By John E. Carter, Nebraska State Historical Society In the first decades of the twentieth century two innovations helped create the American vacation. One was Henry Ford's automobile for everyman, the Model T. Affordable cars meant that average people no longer were limited either by distance or by railroad routes in their travels. The other innovation was George Eastman's snapshot camera. Photographic historian Beumont Newhall called photography the most democratic of the art forms because it gives everyone a history. For some people, vacation meant a trip to an amusement park or a leisurely visit to the beach or a tour of historic sites. For the more adventurous, it meant a return to America's wild places. Nebraskans Ed and Margaret (Maggie) Gehrke were among those attracted to the wild. Ed was a successful builder, known as the "Bungalow Man" in Lincoln. Both had a passion for the outdoors, and in their travels Ed recorded their doings with his Kodak while Maggie kept beautifully written journals. Beginning in 1914 the Gehrkes would load up their Buick with camping, hunting and fishing gear, plus at least one dog, and head off. In 1916 they made an epic journey that Maggie called their "Thousand Mile Motor Trip through Western Nebraska." This trip took them from Lincoln to Grand Island, on to Broken Bow, then to Brewster, up to Ainsworth, across to O'Neill, down to Neligh and ultimately home to Lincoln. Today that doesn't seem like much of a challenge. Highways are paved, graded to minimize hills, and dotted with gas stations and repair shops. Travelers have GPS or a variety of maps to guide them. This was not so for the Gerhkes. Roads were dirt paths with routes marked infrequently, if at all. Even good roads could quickly turn into mud bogs that ensnared the Buick. As for repairs, you were on your own. "Then began the worse roads I have ever motored over," Maggie writes of the route from Brewster to Ainsworth. "We were in the sand hills. For 40 miles we wound in and out, and ploughed thru the sand, or blindly followed wagon trails that forked off in every direction over miles and miles of unbroken prairies with never a sign or a guide to direct us; we were 40 miles from a railroad, no towns and only rarely a homesteader's sod shack – and then the only direction we could get was to 'kinda-keep-to-the-north.' We did. But Lord knows how we ever reached Ainsworth." But then there was the camping, hunting, fishing, and the sheer adventure of living. A few days after arriving in Ainsworth, Maggie writes: "Oct. 23. The morning dawned a fine 'duck day'– cold and a light snow. The Man and the Dog were away to the lakes early to spend the day, again. I sent off a bunch of post-cards and had a long walk before dinner. . . The Man will have such glorious hunt, for shooting is fine in the sand hills. To bring in forty or fifty ducks is not unusual. We are to have a fine duck dinner if Edward gets home in time." Every year until Ed's death in 1939, the Gehrkes visited National Parks. How many? All of them, all that existed at the time. Arriving at a park, they sought out the remotest RG849-2-0-23 Julius H. holding several dead birds. RG84 RG849 2 9-2-0 23 0-23 Jul Jul Jul Jul Ju Ju Ju Ju Jul ul u Ju ius ius us u ius us us us u H ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho h ldi ldi ldi ldi d ng ng ng ng ng ng ng ng ng n sev sev sev se sev sev evera era era ra era era ral d l d l d l d l d l ead ead ead ead ead e 10 NEBRASKAland • OCTOBER 2014 RG849-2-0-110 Our October Hunting Trip. Shows tent and car. 1916 - A Thousand Mile Motor Trip - Western Nebraska: "More trouble." 1916 - A Thousand Mile Motor Trip - Western Nebraska: "Pretty bad - but beats staying at home!" RG849-0-0-21 RG849-0-0-25