The FIRST CROSS-COUNTRY AUTOMOBILE TRIP was made in 1903 in a Cleveland-made Winton automobile. Dr. H. Nelson Jackson, a physician from Burlington, VT, and his chauffeur, Sewell K. Croker, left San Francisco in a 2-cyl., 20-hp 1903 Winton on 23 May 1903. Rather than challenge the Nevada deserts that had foiled ALEXANDER WINTON and Chas. B. Shanks in 1901 (see CLEVELAND-NEW YORK DRIVE), Jackson and Croker took a northern route, crossing Oregon, Idaho, and Wyoming. Their difficult journey brought them to Cleveland on 20 July; they were escorted into the city by a proud delegation from the Winton Motor Carriage Co. They completed the journey in New York City on 26 July. The trip of Βι¶ΉΣ³» 5,500 mi. took Βι¶ΉΣ³» 50 days of driving and cost Jackson $8,000. Skeptics charged that Jackson and Croker had cheated during the journey; some claimed that the pair had switched cars along the route, while others claimed that they had placed their car on a train and made part of the journey by rail. The Winton Co. defended the dependability of its product by offering $10,000 to anyone able to prove these charges; Jackson added $15,000 to that offer in defense of his integrity. The charges were never proved.
Wager, Richard. Golden Wheels (1975).