Three Thousand Miles by Bicycle
A Kentucky man completes an epic cross-country journey, navigating wagon roads, railroad beds, and mountain passes to reach Seattle.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
E. Mitchell, of Richmond, Ky., arrived in Seattle yesterday, having traveled 3,000 miles on a bicycle within the past three months. Mitchell has ridden his wheel the entire way from his home since May 17, 1893. After visiting his brother here and enjoying the hunting and fishing of this section, he will again mount his bicycle and proceed to San Diego, California. He undertook the journey principally for his health and has been greatly benefited by it. Upon leaving home, he proceeded to Cincinnati and thence north to Hamilton, Ohio. He then traveled westward through Richmond, Indianapolis, and Covington, Indiana, through Danville, Bloomington, Peoria, and Galesburg, Illinois. Crossing the Mississippi into Burlington, Iowa, he went to Ottumwa, having followed wagon roads. At this point, he took the roadbed of the 'Q' to Des Moines and then the Rock Island to Council Bluffs, crossing the Missouri to Omaha. He then followed the line of the Union Pacific across Nebraska and to Cheyenne, Wyoming, thence through Laramie to Rawlins, where he left the railroad and cut across the country to Lander, Fort Washakie, and the Wind River. He crossed the Owl Creek mountains to Meeteetse on the Grey Bull River, then to the Stinkingwater, where he caught his first trout, thence crossing to Sunlight over Dead Indian Hill, making a descent of 3,000 feet in one mile and three-quarters. From there, he crossed on the Lodge Pole trail to Clark's Fork of the Yellowstone, which he followed to Cooke City, Montana. Six miles from Cooke City, he entered Yellowstone Park and made a circuit through the park before striking the Northern Pacific railroad at Cinnabar. He followed the road to Bowman and Helena, but crossed the mountains on the wagon road to Missoula, from which point he followed the railroad through Spokane and all the way to Buckley, through the Cascade tunnel, cutting across country to Auburn and thence to Seattle. Mr. Mitchell says he experienced no difficulty in riding over railroad ties but was bothered by 'cow-gaps' and trestles because he had to dismount and walk over them. After reaching the hills in Wyoming, he procured a camp and cooking outfit, having from thirty to forty pounds of freight tied on his wheel.
“In making the descent he adopted the method of other conveyances in the same place, that of cutting a tree and dragging it behind as a kind of sheet anchor.”
Long-distance cycling was the extreme sport of the 1890s, requiring physical endurance that mirrors modern bikepacking trends. While Mitchell followed rail beds and wagon paths, today's Seattle-area cyclists benefit from dedicated infrastructure like the Burke-Gilman Trail, though the challenge of cross-country travel remains a testament to human persistence.
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