My Great Great Grandpa's Car

Elmer Ross was my great, great Grandfather. He bought a dark green 1911 Winton touring car when he sold his dairy farm. Elmer Ross did not know how to drive so when a Mr. Green brought the car out to the Bothel farm, Mr. Green would also teach him how to drive. When Mr. Green came out to the Bothel farm, my great, great Grandpa asked Mr. Green if he would drive the Ross family back to Cadiz, Ohio following the same trail that Mr. Ross's parents had used when coming West by covered wagon. Seven people were going on the trip. My great great Grandpa, Mr. Green and my great, great Grandmother, Della McCoy Ross, and the Ross's four children: Clark, Orpheus, Carrie and my great Grandfather George, who was 7. I am seven now! Each person got to bring only one suitcase.





The family had to pull themselves and their car up steep mountains. They used a long rope and a block - and- tackle. Someone would go up thirty feet and find a strong tree. They would put the rope around the tree and then the whole family would pull on the rope while Mr. Green would push on the gas. When they got to that tree, they would have to do it again. That's how they got up Snoqualmie Pass, especially the part near Denny Creek. They also had their first flat tire because of the sharp rocks.
When they got to the top of Snoqualmie Pass , there was a cement marker. They had to fix the road. They drove on puncheon which is split logs. At Lake Kechulus they drove the car on a scow. The car was so heavy the floor of the barge had water on it. A small power boat pushed the scow across the lake. Mr. Green said the boat operator told them that they were the first family to travel east over the pass.
It was a lot different than traveling now. They bought gas for the car in grocery or hardware stores. They needed a lot of repairs. They had packed two spare tires and lots of rope. Once they even fixed the car with baling wire! They had to wait in Casy, Wyoming for more spare tires. A stage coach brought them.
There were not many roads so they had trouble. People would give them directions, but sometimes they gave the wrong ones. They got stuck in the sand by Pasco. They got stuck in gumbo mud in the midwest. Somebody backed into the car and they had to have it fixed in McCook, Nebraska. They had to wait for four days for a new radiator . They were invited to rabbit hunting trip and parties and picnics while they waited. When they came to rivers, sometimes there were no bridges. Mr. Green would have to drive it across a shallow part by himeself. My family would walk through the river the best they could. The roads were not made of cement . They were made of rocks and dirt. Roads were made for wagons. amd so they often had a high bump in the middle. They would have to get out the shovels and dig off the top of the road so the car could drive over the bumps. When it rained they had to put up the top. It was hard. They were glad they had bought the top. It was an extra. So were the headlamps.


It took them six weeks to get to Ohio. The Winton Company had a big party for my great great Granfather and Mr. Green. It was good publicity for the company. Then the kept driving to West Virginia so they could say they had gone all the way across the United States. The Winton Company fixed up the car good as new and sent it home on a train. My family came home by train too.

Merry G.