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 about 5,500 mi. took about 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).