Distinctly Montana Magazine

50 D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G 2 0 2 5 Daredevils love a challenge, and each wanted to crack the next one for them- selves. One of the most daunting still remained: becoming the first person to fly over the Continental Divide. Various hotshots and flyboys eyed it hungrily. One of them was Eugene Ely, a masterful flyer and race car driver from Williams- burg, Iowa. He began as the chauffeur to a priest with a penchant for fast cars, in whose employ he broke at least one land speed record. He drove a delivery route in a car, raced in one, even took a job as a car salesman. His life, it seems, was to be de- voted to the automobile until his boss at the latter job acquired a brand new Curtiss bi-plane. Ely figured it couldn't be much harder than driving a car, except that you had a new axis with which to contend. He crashed it, of course, but he survived, and before long he had repaired the plane and found a passion for flying that eclipsed driving. The mountains introduced another factor dangerous for pilots to ignore: high winds. Higher elevation also meant less oxygen for the engine. Ely himself, speak- ing to the Billings Gazette in June of 1910, can describe the challenges of flying that high: "You see, an aeroplane loses 48 pounds carrying capacity with every 1,600 feet elevation, and as I believe the altitude of Billings is about 2,300 feet, I will lose about 145 pounds lifting power...if I can get off the ground I am almost certain I can mount to a considerable height and stay in the air for some time." Unfortunately, on the occasion about which he was being interviewed, Ely only managed to get a few feet above the ground, maintained only for a few moments. Undeterred, he left the state to pursue other possibilities that would, ultimately, secure his legacy. In January 1911, he made both naval and aviation history by be- ing the first man to land on an armored cruiser, the USS Pennsylvania, thus paving the way for the modern aircraft carrier. He was only about 25 years old. His accom- plishments, it seemed, would continue for decades to come. Perhaps he would be the one to conquer the Divide.

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