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OPINION
I recently saw an interesting old post card, which reminded me of this tale. Back in April, 1919 the Army was proud to show off its latest weapon, proven in World War One. A trip was scheduled to bring a “battle scarred” Whippet tank to Colorado for the public to see. During the war, Colorado, like other states had raised millions of “Victory loan” dollars, but unlike today there was little “military presence” in Colorado. The little tank was manned by veterans from Colorado. The little machine was christened “Little Zeb” (After Zebulon Pike) on its arrival by train from Kansas City. Mechanics went over it, preparing to run it up Pike’s Peak. The road was not near as nice as it is today. The next problem was snow. In those days the road was lucky to be opened in May. The Army planned to show the tank’s power by running it up, over, or through whatever might get in the way. On the 16th the tank rumbled through town to Ute Pass. The metal treads chewing the oiled (but not paved) roads. A movie crew traveled with the machine to record the events as the tank traveled along. The crew spent the night at Cascade. The next day the crew was hard at it the next morning. If you have not been up the highway, it is about twenty miles to the summit from Cascade. It was thought that the trip might take two days, one in each direction, however things did not work out so well. The tank maneuvered its way through snow drifts, and around a few fallen trees and rocks. It took two days to get to Glen Cove, where instructions waited to return to Colorado Springs. The tank had to be in Denver for a Victory parade on the 26th, and no more time could be wasted. Plans were announced for the return when the schedule was not so tight. Well, Little Zeb never made it back, but a large crowd gathered in late May to see the movie about the first try. In June an Army caterpillar type tractor arrived on a train. The machine was powered by a similar engine, and was about the same size as Little Zeb, except all the armor plate had been removed, and it used a different type tread. The five ton machine was built by the Holt company. The little machine chugged its way right up to the summit, even rolling over a couple snow drifts that still prevented automobiles from coming up the mountain. The trip took only a day, up and back, and the rig was loaded quietly into its special box car, and little else was said.
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