You have people who try to trace the paths of history. Then you have people who really try to re-create the entire experience from many decades ago.
These images came a few days ago courtesy of Jim Hinckley of Kingman, Arizona, who explained in an email:
In 1915, then 21-year old Edsel Ford and some friends drove to the exposition in San Francisco via a loop along the National Old Trails Highway through Arizona. In 2015 the Historic Vehicle Association used Edsel’s detailed photo journal to recreate his trip as a means of celebrating a century of American road trips and to elevate national awareness of automotive heritage.
Incredibly, the association is making the trip in a 1915 Ford. In addition, they are following as much of the National Old Trails Highway as possible, including sections I would be hard pressed to take the Jeep on.
I provided assistance in identifying locations in the Kingman area that Edsel noted, including the Brunswick Hotel where he stayed after an “arduous drive” from Flagstaff.
A couple more images here, including the car in front of the Brunswick Hotel in Kingman — just about the area’s only surviving hotel from that time.
Car and Driver magazine has a very long story about the journey here.
The National Old Trails Road, like the Ozark Trail or several other named roads, served as a precursor to Route 66 in Arizona, California and New Mexico, which didn’t arrive until more than a decade after Ford’s journey.