In the summer of 1919, a United States Army motorized expedition took 62 days to travel 3,251 miles from Washington DC to San Francisco. The convoy tested the mobility of the Army as it became increasingly motorized. The official observer for the War Department was a young Lieutenant Colonel named Dwight D. Eisenhower.
In the late 19th century, American roads could best be described as rudimentary. Bicycle enthusiasts were the first to draw attention to the dirt roads that were either dry and dusty or wet and muddy. Streams and gullies were crossed by rickety wooden bridges. Riding a bicycle outside the paved roads in cities could be a challenge. Bike riders demanded better roads and inspired the Good Roads Movement. Then, as automobile traffic came along, the demand for better roads was amplified.
The experience of the 1919 expedition made it clear that that the existing roads made it difficult, if not impossible, to move troops quickly. As the convoy traveled through Nebraska, for example, it took eleven hours to cover sixty miles. Today, that distance can easily be traveled in an hour on Interstate 80.
Eisenhower’s military service is best known for his leadership of allied forces during World War II. While the memory of the 1919 convoy never left him, a World War II experience also influenced his thinking about transportation. During the war, he had driven on Germany’s autobahn, an extensive four-lane highway. He later wrote, “The old convoy had started me thinking about good, two-lane highways, but Germany had made me see the wisdom of broader ribbons across the land.” On this date in 1954, President Eisenhower announced a plan to develop an interstate highway system.
Congress authorized the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act two years later. It provided twenty-five billion dollars for forty-one thousand miles of highway, the largest public works project in the country’s history. When the project was finally completed in 1991, it was named the Dwight D. Eisenhower System of Interstate and Defense Highways.
North Dakotans are familiar with the interstate highway. I-29 runs north and south for two hundred seventeen miles. I-94 runs east and west for 350 miles. Thanks to President Eisenhower, drivers can zip along through North Dakota at 75 miles an hour without fear of getting bogged down in mud.
Dakota Datebook by Carole Butcher
Sources:
- Dwight D. “Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum, and Boyhood Home. “1919 Transcontinental Motor Convoy.” https://www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov/research/online-documents/1919-transcontinental-motor-convoy Accessed 6/7/2024.
- Wyoming History. “Eisenhower’s 1919 Road Trip and the Interstate Highway System.” https://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/eisenhowers-1919-road-trip-and-interstate-highway-system Accessed 6/8/2024.
- Federal Highway Administration. “Crossroads and Contributions.” https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/candc/timeline.cfm#1950 accessed 6/8/2024.
