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On this day in history June 27, 1890 two brothers, Dexter M. (27) and S. Walter Rogers (24), rode through Marion and Cedar Rapids generally following the future route of the Lincoln Highway through IL and IA on their way from Plymouth, Massachusetts to Portland, Oregon. The days of the high wheel bicycle were ending. Here in Iowa we hadn't seen a transcontinental crossing attempt since 1887 and this was the last we would see of this kind. After the Rogers Bros. wheelmen, and women now, would ride the new (modern-style) "safety" bicycle.

The Rogers had left Plymouth April 26. They were on a pleasure trip and took time to see the sights, including 2 days at Niagara Falls and 8 days in Chicago. In Montana they temporarily abandoned their bicycles and joined a party of railroad tourists on a 16-day excursion to Yellowstone Park. They arrived in Portland on September 15, took a steamship down San Francisco and returned to Portland by October 1. They took the train back home to Milbury, Mass.

Dexter Moses Rogers (1863-1947) returned to Massachusetts became an inspector for the Massachusetts board of agriculture leading the state's fight against the spread of the gypsy moth. He was hired by the USDA Bureau of Entomology in 1906 to lead the national campaign against the pest. He retired after 20 years and settled in Pacific Grove, Monterey, CA. (Find A Grave memorial #58734295). S. Walter Rogers (1866-1945) became a newspaper man and worked as the editor and business manger for Gardner Mass. News for 20 years. He served in the Spanish-American War. He married late--1915 (Elizabeth G. Hardy) and left no children. Mr. & Mrs. S. W. Rogers returned to Iowa in 1922, this time by automobile, on a four month 10,000-mile journey that retraced the 1890 trip. (Find A Grave memorial #115618130) ... See MoreSee Less

14 hours ago  ·  

On this day in history, June 26, 1884, Thomas Stevens (1854-1935) passed through Iowa City on his way from San Francisco to Boston and accomplishing the first ever US transcontinental crossing by bicycle. He rode a 50 in. ordinary or “high-wheeled” bicycle built by the Pope Manufacturing Company. Stevens left SF on April 22 and arrived in Boston on August 4, completing the first leg of a trip around the world. He arrived back in SF in January, 1887--the first-ever circuit of the globe by land.

Stevens spent about two weeks crossing Iowa (June 16-28) using the dirt wagon roads paralleling the Rock Island RR. It was scorching hot—over 100 degrees in the shade—hot enough to melt the glue holding the solid rubber tire on his large wheel rim. He summed up road conditions with, “variable.” That was kind, but by this time he was used to taking daily “headers” off his saddle. The roads rolled "like a heavy Atlantic swell,” and the scattered rain clouds passed overhead, "like a huge watering-pot,” leaving his path with alternate stretches of mud and dust. The roadside looked like, "one continuous fertile farm," from the Missouri to the Mississippi. Stevens was struck immediately by Iowa hospitality. His first night two neighboring farmers fought to host him for dinner; then they compromised in true Iowa fashion—Stevens would have dinner with one, then dessert with the other.

Five wheelmen followed Stevens in 1886-1887 and essayed transcontinental tours: George Thayer, Stephen Spier, George Nellis, Charles Theron Gray and Frederick Van Meerbeke. Everyone but the last fellow followed Stevens’ proven path across the continent (only in reverse, and we saw them here in Iowa. Van Meerbeke took a new route paralleling the Southern Pacific RR line through Atlanta, New Orleans and Houston. Long distance bicycle riders took a hiatus after 1887, then in 1890 Marion got to share in the excitement for the first time when two brothers, Dexter and S. Walter Rogers,
blazed a new transcontinental trail across Iowa that later became part of the Lincoln Highway. That story on the anniversary of their visit, tomorrow. ... See MoreSee Less

2 days ago  ·  

On this day in history, June 18, 1887 Charles Theron Gray (1863-1931) bicycled through eastern Iowa on his way across the continent from NY to San Francisco. He rode a Columbia ("high wheel") bicycle generally following the future River-to-River road from Davenport to Iowa City, Des Moines and Omaha. Gray had started his trip in NYC on June 1 and arrived in Chicago on June 8. He must have travelled most of the way by train. Apparently he was scheduled to meet fellow NY wheelman George W. Nellis, Jr. in the Windy City (see yesterday's post) and continue to SF with him. The arrangement worked for exactly four days. Nellis grew increasingly irritated by his companion's slow pace--he wanted to set a new transcontinental speed record! Gray was interested in sight-seeing and stopping to visit with friends and relatives. The men parted ways and in spite Nellis erased him from his written accounts of the trip. Gray arrived in San Francisco on October 11, 7 weeks after Nellis. He married the following year (Ella Basinger) and they had two children. See Find A Grave memorial #8178799. ... See MoreSee Less

1 week ago  ·