Today marks the 100th anniversary of the completion of the 1st Transcontinental car race in North America, the so-called Ocean to Ocean Endurance Contest. The winner would get the Guggenheim Trophy and $2,000. There were to be 30 entrants, but for various reasons, mostly concerned with safety, only 6 cars entered, 2 Model-T racers, a Shawmut, an Italia (owned by Guggenheim), an Acme and a Stearns. Acme built bicycles prior to switching to automobiles, and Shawmut was only one of two vehicles that survived burning of the Shawmut factory. 
The race started promptly at noon in New York on June 1st, exactly the same time President Taft opened the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in Seattle. Five cars left New York at that time, the Stearns needed additional mechanical work, so it left five days later and then broken down again just outside New York City. The cars had to follow the speed limits until they reached St. Louis, from there they could drive as fast as they dared. Of course there were very few passable roads west of St. Louis in 1909, so the race becomes a tale of mud and washed out roads. Then came Snoqualmie Pass, which still had four feet of snow at the summit, one of the Fords became stuck for hours in snow, long enough for Henry Ford to actually take a train to the summit and assist with the digging.
On June 23rd at 12:55 PM, 23 days and 55 minutes after leaving New York, a Model-T Ford arrived at the A-Y-P the winner of the race. Henry Ford then went on a nationwide advertising binge touting his $850 car that won the New York to Seattle Race. The winning Ford, however, in violation of the race rules, changed an engine or axle in a Boise Ford Dealership and was disqualified, handing victory to the Shawmut that arrived 17 hours after the first Model-T. Unfortunately for Shawmut victory did not come until November and by that time nobody really cared about the details.
Ford went on the sell 15 million or so Model-T's and Shawmut never built another car. Who knows, maybe we would be bailing out Shawmut in 2009 if they had been declared the winner on this date 100 years ago.
A couple asides; in 1959 Ford staged a 50th anniversary Ocean to Ocean Endurance Contest, and to ensure a Ford won, only Fords where allowed to enter. The cars arrived in Seattle on this date and attended a ground breaking ceremony for the 1962 World's Fair. Finally 55 Model-T's are rambling across America re-acting the race, they will arrive in Seattle on July 12th. You can check out their progress here: http://oceantoocean.ning.com/profiles/blog/list
Below are links to some other articles:
So tonight here are a few pictures of Fords, if you want to see a picture of the Shawmut go here:
Enjoy
Dan
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