- [Narrator] On June 17th,
they rattled out of town

heading for Wyoming and
quickly made 30 miles

until the hub and bearings
on a front wheel gave out.

In Montpelier, Idaho, they
borrowed some bearings

from a farmer's mowing
machine and once again

had to rely on a local
blacksmith to install them.

The delay cost them
the rest of the day.

But Jackson's optimism
was undiminished.

- [Jackson] Darling
Swipes, just a line to say

that everything is all right
with your wondering boy.

I can't write much as
we sleep, then work.

When you hear that we have
reached Rawlins, Wyoming

you will know that I
can make the trip a go.

So bet all the money
that you have got on it.

Well old girlie, I
can't say anymore.

You know how I feel.

I shall make up for
lost time, Nelly.

- If ever there was somebody
who saw the glass half full,

even if it's only a quarter,

it's got to be Horatio
Nelson Jackson.

Every time, every single
time it seems that something

goes wrong with his
car, and at a time when

you know, a rational
person probably would say,

I've gone far enough,
give it my best shot,

I'll catch the train, go home.

Instead, he writes to
his wife and it's this

sort of I don't think
it was all bravado

or just trying to reassure
her that everything was okay

I think he believed it.

He thought, if I just
get over this next thing

it's going to be smooth
sailing from here on out.

And he said that time and
time and time and time again.

Every obstacle
that he encountered

was going to be
the last obstacle.

And of course it never was.

[Guitar Music] [Thunder]

- [Narrator] Things got
even worse on June 20th,

after they had
crossed into Wyoming.

A tremendous cloud
burst struck the area,

after they passed through
the town of Granger

flooding and washing
out the road.

They now resorted to
trying to navigate

across the open country.

Changing direction every
time they encountered

a gully too deep to cross.

And getting hopelessly lost.

We zig-sagged as best
we could, Jackson wrote,

sometimes we went
North instead of East

and others we even
went Northwest

bringing us back where
we had been before.

They struggled along for hours,

ultimately going 69
miles out of their way.

[River Babbling]

- [Jackson] Coming to
the bank of a river

we judged from our
maps and compass

that it was the Green River.

And we resolved to follow
its downward course.

When night came on we
made camp beside the car,

and having lost our cooking
outfit and provisions,

and it being an
uninhabited region,

went to bed without any supper.