Manuscripts
The Whitman correspondence begins on May 28, 1903 in Pasadena, California. Whitman writes to his mother about a potential automobile trip from San Francisco, California to New York and introduces her to his driving partner, E.I. Hammond. The duo will be trailing several hundred miles behind E.T. Fetch and M.C. Krarup, another pair on their way to New York. Whitman writes that he has more faith in his 4.5-horsepower Oldsmobile than the 1903 Packard, which Fetch is driving. Postcards and letters concerning his trip east are sent from various locations including Lovelock and Elko, Nevada, Ogden, Utah, Rawlins, Wyoming, and Elwood, Nebraska. On the road, Whitman and Hammond face mechanical issues, rugged roads, and harsh weather conditions. In one letter, Whitman writes about frightening a lone Indian to death when they approached him in their "machine." In another event, they recruited the help of two cowboys, who used "their lassos to pull us up a bank some 15ft high..." (July 20, 1903). When driving through the country side, the undeveloped roads prove to be difficult: "The country is all mud, terrible. We can make but little progress. This mud is the black adobe like lard and dries hard as flint" (Aug. 13, 1903). In Detroit, Michigan, Whitman meets Ransom E. Olds and appears to be an honored guest at an automobile race with 10,000 people in attendance. Whitman speaks too soon when he writes "I don't want any more endurance runs..." because he dashes across the continent again in 1904, 1906, and 1910 at record-setting rates, which include breaking Fetch's record. Whitman reflects that his automobile trip "helps to season and spice the short life we stay on this earth" (Oct. 18, 1903)
mssHM 81903-82022
