![[Greyhound Lines scenic low-cost travel to all America, fold out brochure] Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ppmsca-85783](https://static.riverbender.com/media/5142622440-servicepnpppmsca8570085783v.jpg)
A front-page article on the Alton Evening Telegraph in May 1926 announced that well-known Alton attorney William P. Boynton “may perhaps enjoy the distinction of being the first Altonian who tried to make a trip from Alton to California in a motor bus.” By this time, many locals had made the trip by automobile, but Boynton was set to become “the pioneer Altonian in making the round trip riding all the way in commercial motor busses.”
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
Boynton took a bus from St. Louis to Kansas City, caught another to Denver, then took a third to Los Angeles. The journey took five days. An Alton Evening Telegraph article from May 14, 1926 stated, “Mr. Boynton was born too late to be in the class of the forty-niners who took ox teams to California, but he may enjoy a distinction of being one of the first bus line tourists to the Pacific coast.”
Boynton originally planned to take the train directly back, but “there were places he had not given enough time to and things he had not looked over to his satisfaction,” so he decided to make the return trip by motor bus as well. He started back on a bus, but ended up taking a train in Nebraska to get back faster and return to work. Boynton arrived home on May 16 from his trip.
BUT WAIT! A note in the “Personal” section of the Alton Evening Telegraph on May 17, 1926, had this rebuttal about Boynton being the first Altonian to travel to the West Coast by bus: “W.P. Boynton is not the only Altonian to make a trip from California by motorbus. Mrs. Charles E. Lessner (Ethel Karns Lessner), recent candidate for justice of the peace, made the trip last December with her daughter, Miss Ethel. Mr. and Mrs. Lessner are now looking forward to the return of their daughter from Santa Monica, Calif., next month. Miss Ethel Lessner took a position after reaching California being so pleased with the winter climate that she wanted to make an extended stay, and therefore did not return home with her mother last January.” Sadly, there was no further description of their route or details of the excursion.
Boynton repeated his Pacific Coast bus trip in September 1930. He left St. Louis on a Monday, went through Salt Lake City, and arrived in Los Angeles that Friday. He stayed in California for three days conducting business. On the way home (also a Monday through Friday trip), he came through Albuquerque, New Mexico. He slept in the bus seat on the way there and back (a five-day journey each way), “but notwithstanding that element of discomfort, he said he enjoyed the trip.”
It is unclear if Boynton ever made a third bus trip to the Pacific Coast.
Sources
“Boynton Back from Bus Trip to Coast.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), September 13, 1930.
“Boynton Does Motor Bus Trip to Los Angeles.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), May 14, 1926.
“Boynton’s Hat is in the Ring for Judgeship.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), April 21, 1926.
“[Greyhound Lines scenic low-cost travel to all America, fold out brochure].” Reserve Litho & Ptg Co., [ca. 1935]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ppmsca-85783https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2023632534/
“Personal.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), May 17, 1926.
“W. P. Boynton Home from Western Trip.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), May 17, 1926.
More like this:
