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History Daily

Alice Ramsey Completes Her Drive Across America

History Daily

Airship | Noiser | Wondery

History

4.42.1K Ratings

🗓️ 7 August 2025

⏱️ 20 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

August 7, 1909. Alice Huyler Ramsey becomes the first woman to drive across the continental United States.


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Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:04.1

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0:06.0

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0:10.6

or you can get all of History Daily plus other fantastic history podcasts at IntoHistory.com.

0:31.0

Thank you. It's midday on July 16th, 1909, in the mountains of Bitter Creek, Wyoming.

0:39.3

On a treacherous path through the Rockies, 22-year-old Alice Ramsey guns the engine of a dark green Maxwell Model 30 automobile.

0:45.5

Alice's car is stuck halfway up a steep incline, its wheel spinning as it struggles for grip.

0:50.3

It's a hot day, and Alice knows she's risking overheating the engine, but she can't see another way to get up the hill. Outside the car, three young volunteer crew members

0:55.2

wait with giant wooden blocks. As the roadster finally grips the stony ground and jerks forward

1:00.7

a few feet, Alice lets out a holler. Then, on her signal, the crew slams down the wooden blocks

1:06.6

behind the back wheels, preventing the car from rolling down the hill. Alice lets out a mighty sigh

1:11.9

and tells everyone to take a break. Alice Ramsey is driving all the way across America. And if she

1:19.2

makes it to San Francisco, she'll become the first woman to complete the journey. But it's been a

1:23.9

grueling trip. The weather has been against them from day one, and the car's cloth roof has offered them little protection from the elements.

1:31.2

Now, the mighty rocky mountains are Alice's latest obstacle.

1:35.5

She takes a swig from a canteen and nods to her crew to get ready.

1:40.0

With all her might, Alice then cranks a handle to start the car up again.

1:44.7

Then she climbs back behind the wheel, guns the engine once more, and inches them forward up the

1:49.6

mountain.

1:53.6

It will take Alice Ramsey and her crew all day to climb the path through Bitter Creek.

1:58.9

And once they reach the other side, they will still have a thousand miles to drive to reach their destination.

2:04.4

But with her mechanical skills and her sheer refusal to give up,

...

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