Meet the First Women to Cross America by Motorcycle

In 1915, Effie Hotchkiss bought a new Harley-Davidson motorcycle and attached a sidecar to carry her mother, Avis, as a passenger.

By age 18, Effie had begun working on Wall Street and eventually decided to purchase the new Harley-Davidson Model 11-F with a sidecar. This was the first Harley-Davidson to feature a 3-speed gearbox at a cost of $275, which she paid for from her inheritance from her father.

The pair, on May 2, 1915, set out from Brooklyn to see the Panama Pacific International Exhibition in San Francisco.

Avis had instilled confidence in her daughter, and when asked if she had fears about the arduous cross-country journey, Avis replied, “I do not fear breakdowns, for Effie, being a most careful driver, is a good mechanic and does her own repairing with her own tools.”

It took the pair two months to reach San Francisco, attracting much attention on the way. They stayed in rented rooms, traveling light with some clothes, tools and a gun.

When they reached their final destination, they were photographed pouring out a jar of Atlantic sea water they had carried from New York, into the Pacific Ocean at Ocean Beach, in San Francisco.

The pair were the first women to cross America by motorbike, at a time when the roads, where they existed, were simply horrendous.