RescueRangers
Member
A couple years after my wife and I got involved in Overlanding we learned about Edward and Margaret Gehrke and their 30 years spent exploring the United States. I became fascinated with this couple and they have since become our inspiration to explore this country and our National Parks. I have been researching the Gehrke’s for quite a while but it has finally come together allowing me to write about them. This is the trip report for their first trip and I would like to get you opinion.
The first trip of Edward and Margaret Gehrke was a short trip Margaret called “a thousand-mile motor trip thru western Nebraska”. According to Dayton Duncan’s “The National Parks: America's Best Idea”, the first trip of the Gehrkes to a National Park was by train in 1915, as were all their trips to National Parks until 1920 when they started using a car. However, their first trip in an automobile was actually in 1916. I am sure they had no idea their first Auto Camping trip would be such an adventure.
I have always heard the best vehicle for Overlanding is the one you already have but this is one where I would have to question that wisdom. The car they used was a 1914 Buick B36, a two-seat convertible. The reason this vehicle was not well suited to Overlanding or Auto Camping is the lack of storage space. This car had to have been a sight heading through Lincoln as it started its journey, with tent poles strapped to the side and gear stacked on the running boards and rear deck. The two spare tires hanging off the back were the only thing that looked like it belonged on the vehicle.
Although Margaret was good at describing the road conditions on their trip, I took the time to do a little research on the history of the Nebraska road system to get a better idea of just what the Gehrkes went through. Other than a few funding bills here and there, the Federal Government didn’t start any kind of investment into our road system until the Good Roads Act of 1916. In Nebraska, nothing of real interest was even discussed until 1911. To give an idea of the road situation, the founder of Packard wanted to travel west to understand the problems with the roads. In Omaha, when he asked what road to take west, he was told to drive through the field, there was no road heading due west.
On 15 October the Gehrkes hit the road heading west at nine in the morning. Margaret described the first 60 miles being on gravel roads and the last 40 on roads that were muddy. Based on her description, today this would be route 34 heading from Lincoln, their home, towards Grand Island. They reached the Platte River around sunset but ran into problems before they could set up camp. Their campsite for the night would be a section of hard sand near a pleasant meadow. Pulling onto a level spot to set up their campsite, they got stuck. Leaving the car as is, they put up the tent and prepared supper while they watched as the car slowly sank into the wet sand. To tackle this problem, Edward searched around a nearby bridge and found a few wood planks. After jacking the car up, Edward placed a plank under each tire. Finally, around eleven o’clock, the car was unstuck and moved to a more solid section of sand.
The second day started with a stop in Grand Island for breakfast. With the road, and their luck, little changed from the previous day, they managed to travel only 50 miles for the day. As they pulled into Ravenna, they realized they had broken what Margaret described as “both springs”. The Buick dealer in town was little help other than sending a telegraph back to Lincoln for replacement springs. With this completed, the Gehrkes drove back out of Ravenna to a big grove just outside of town and set up their campsite. Retracing the route today, the couple would have continued on RT-34 to RT-281 to pass through Grand Island before turning northwest onto RT-2.
Camped within walking distance of the town of Ravenna, and once again cold, one has to wonder why the couple did not stay in town. Ravenna was not a small village at the time, the town had two high schools graduating 450 students in its 1915 class. Another reason to assume Ravenna had at least one hotel was it being a stop on the main railroad line and it had a number of large businesses. On the other hand, while waiting on the replacement springs to arrive, Edward spent the day with their dog hunting and fishing. The reason for camping may have been purely by choice as Margaret describes the day as pleasant.
The other question raised was the meaning of “both springs”. Since the 1914 Buick B36 has two leaf springs on each axle, we have to assume she was referring to both springs on the rear axle. This would make sense considering the amount of weight placed over the rear axle due to the load. The tent they used on this trip was a wall tent, commonly used by the military during the 18th and 19th century. The canvas for the tent alone weighed in at over 50lbs. With tent poles and stakes, the weight of this tent could be pushing close to one hundred pounds. Now add in a bed, which Margaret mentions later, and other items necessary for camping, it’s easy to imagine the rear of the car being well over the recommended load rating.
The morning of the fourth day, 18 October, was spent at the Buick dealer getting the broken springs replaced. Returning back to the camp, everything was packed up and they were on the road by noon. Driving in the face of a cold north wind, with just a canvas top and side curtains similar to a Jeep CJ2 or early CJ5 with a soft top, the couple was pushed to their limit. They drove until they could no longer stand the cold, calling it quits at 3:30. Having traveled a total of 68 put them at the town of Broken Bow. Once the camp was set up, the couple ate supper then headed off to bed early. The route to Broken Bow from Ravenna would have been along what is today route 183.
Hoping the cold wave would pass during the night was nothing but wishful thinking as they woke on the morning of the fifth day to a heavy snow cover. The sight of the snow exiting the tent in the morning prompted Margaret to call the place Camp Snowbound. Breakfast was finished early but the couple spent the next hour deliberating whether to continue their drive or remain where they were for the day. The decision was made to continue their drive but it would be a difficult day of driving over snow covered sand roads resulting in traveling only 30 miles in three hours. After spending most of the three hours digging the car out of sand and snow when it got stuck, they had to dig more snow to clear a spot for the tent when they finally pitched camp. In the end they threw everything they had on the bed and at six o’clock climbed into bed. All the extra bedding and cloths would be needed as it would get down to 18 degrees during the night. The route would have put them somewhere between New Helena and Milburn on Milburn Road after turning off of Victoria Spring Road.
The couple woke on the morning of day six to only light snow but the cold north wind would continue. The high of the day would only reach 36 degrees and that light snow would amount to nearly half an inch. And to really start day off right, breakfast was frozen solid. At this point it was decided to make the best of the day by building a large fire right in front of the tent and spend the day here. Of course, Edward and the dog took the opportunity to get in a day of hunting.
With the weather improving, the couple ate breakfast with the early sun before breaking camp. The roads were sandy and hilly but passible allowing them to cover 25 miles before noon. Their lunch break for the day was a stop just after passing through the town of Brewster. Margaret remarked that it was an enjoyable lunch on the side of the road. The next forty miles were much the same as before lunch, sand and hills, but it did differ in one aspect. According to Margaret, this was not a road but wagon trails that went off in every direction with not one sign or guide to direct them. They continued on with no towns or homes in sight until they saw the lights of Ainsworth in the distance. At seven O’clock the day ended when they finally reached Ainsworth and found a nice warm hotel. Their route done today would have continued up Milburn Road through Brewster to Route 7. To give an idea of what they faced, the 65 miles on this route today would have taken only about an hour and ten minutes.
The first trip of Edward and Margaret Gehrke was a short trip Margaret called “a thousand-mile motor trip thru western Nebraska”. According to Dayton Duncan’s “The National Parks: America's Best Idea”, the first trip of the Gehrkes to a National Park was by train in 1915, as were all their trips to National Parks until 1920 when they started using a car. However, their first trip in an automobile was actually in 1916. I am sure they had no idea their first Auto Camping trip would be such an adventure.
I have always heard the best vehicle for Overlanding is the one you already have but this is one where I would have to question that wisdom. The car they used was a 1914 Buick B36, a two-seat convertible. The reason this vehicle was not well suited to Overlanding or Auto Camping is the lack of storage space. This car had to have been a sight heading through Lincoln as it started its journey, with tent poles strapped to the side and gear stacked on the running boards and rear deck. The two spare tires hanging off the back were the only thing that looked like it belonged on the vehicle.
Although Margaret was good at describing the road conditions on their trip, I took the time to do a little research on the history of the Nebraska road system to get a better idea of just what the Gehrkes went through. Other than a few funding bills here and there, the Federal Government didn’t start any kind of investment into our road system until the Good Roads Act of 1916. In Nebraska, nothing of real interest was even discussed until 1911. To give an idea of the road situation, the founder of Packard wanted to travel west to understand the problems with the roads. In Omaha, when he asked what road to take west, he was told to drive through the field, there was no road heading due west.
On 15 October the Gehrkes hit the road heading west at nine in the morning. Margaret described the first 60 miles being on gravel roads and the last 40 on roads that were muddy. Based on her description, today this would be route 34 heading from Lincoln, their home, towards Grand Island. They reached the Platte River around sunset but ran into problems before they could set up camp. Their campsite for the night would be a section of hard sand near a pleasant meadow. Pulling onto a level spot to set up their campsite, they got stuck. Leaving the car as is, they put up the tent and prepared supper while they watched as the car slowly sank into the wet sand. To tackle this problem, Edward searched around a nearby bridge and found a few wood planks. After jacking the car up, Edward placed a plank under each tire. Finally, around eleven o’clock, the car was unstuck and moved to a more solid section of sand.
The second day started with a stop in Grand Island for breakfast. With the road, and their luck, little changed from the previous day, they managed to travel only 50 miles for the day. As they pulled into Ravenna, they realized they had broken what Margaret described as “both springs”. The Buick dealer in town was little help other than sending a telegraph back to Lincoln for replacement springs. With this completed, the Gehrkes drove back out of Ravenna to a big grove just outside of town and set up their campsite. Retracing the route today, the couple would have continued on RT-34 to RT-281 to pass through Grand Island before turning northwest onto RT-2.
Camped within walking distance of the town of Ravenna, and once again cold, one has to wonder why the couple did not stay in town. Ravenna was not a small village at the time, the town had two high schools graduating 450 students in its 1915 class. Another reason to assume Ravenna had at least one hotel was it being a stop on the main railroad line and it had a number of large businesses. On the other hand, while waiting on the replacement springs to arrive, Edward spent the day with their dog hunting and fishing. The reason for camping may have been purely by choice as Margaret describes the day as pleasant.
The other question raised was the meaning of “both springs”. Since the 1914 Buick B36 has two leaf springs on each axle, we have to assume she was referring to both springs on the rear axle. This would make sense considering the amount of weight placed over the rear axle due to the load. The tent they used on this trip was a wall tent, commonly used by the military during the 18th and 19th century. The canvas for the tent alone weighed in at over 50lbs. With tent poles and stakes, the weight of this tent could be pushing close to one hundred pounds. Now add in a bed, which Margaret mentions later, and other items necessary for camping, it’s easy to imagine the rear of the car being well over the recommended load rating.
The morning of the fourth day, 18 October, was spent at the Buick dealer getting the broken springs replaced. Returning back to the camp, everything was packed up and they were on the road by noon. Driving in the face of a cold north wind, with just a canvas top and side curtains similar to a Jeep CJ2 or early CJ5 with a soft top, the couple was pushed to their limit. They drove until they could no longer stand the cold, calling it quits at 3:30. Having traveled a total of 68 put them at the town of Broken Bow. Once the camp was set up, the couple ate supper then headed off to bed early. The route to Broken Bow from Ravenna would have been along what is today route 183.
Hoping the cold wave would pass during the night was nothing but wishful thinking as they woke on the morning of the fifth day to a heavy snow cover. The sight of the snow exiting the tent in the morning prompted Margaret to call the place Camp Snowbound. Breakfast was finished early but the couple spent the next hour deliberating whether to continue their drive or remain where they were for the day. The decision was made to continue their drive but it would be a difficult day of driving over snow covered sand roads resulting in traveling only 30 miles in three hours. After spending most of the three hours digging the car out of sand and snow when it got stuck, they had to dig more snow to clear a spot for the tent when they finally pitched camp. In the end they threw everything they had on the bed and at six o’clock climbed into bed. All the extra bedding and cloths would be needed as it would get down to 18 degrees during the night. The route would have put them somewhere between New Helena and Milburn on Milburn Road after turning off of Victoria Spring Road.
The couple woke on the morning of day six to only light snow but the cold north wind would continue. The high of the day would only reach 36 degrees and that light snow would amount to nearly half an inch. And to really start day off right, breakfast was frozen solid. At this point it was decided to make the best of the day by building a large fire right in front of the tent and spend the day here. Of course, Edward and the dog took the opportunity to get in a day of hunting.
With the weather improving, the couple ate breakfast with the early sun before breaking camp. The roads were sandy and hilly but passible allowing them to cover 25 miles before noon. Their lunch break for the day was a stop just after passing through the town of Brewster. Margaret remarked that it was an enjoyable lunch on the side of the road. The next forty miles were much the same as before lunch, sand and hills, but it did differ in one aspect. According to Margaret, this was not a road but wagon trails that went off in every direction with not one sign or guide to direct them. They continued on with no towns or homes in sight until they saw the lights of Ainsworth in the distance. At seven O’clock the day ended when they finally reached Ainsworth and found a nice warm hotel. Their route done today would have continued up Milburn Road through Brewster to Route 7. To give an idea of what they faced, the 65 miles on this route today would have taken only about an hour and ten minutes.
