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On May 18, 1903, Horatio Nelson Jackson agreed to a $50 wager (about $1,400 today) to prove that a four-wheeled machine could be driven across the country. He accepted even though at the age of 31 he did not own a car, had practically no experience driving, and had no maps to follow.

On May 23, along with a young mechanic, Sewell K Crocker, Jackson departed from San Francisco in a used, 2-cylinder, 20hp Winton touring car that he dubbed "The Vermont' after his beloved home state.

Somewhere near Caldwell, Idaho, Jackson and Crocker obtained a dog, a Pit Bull named Bud. Though there were rumors about how the dog was acquired, in a letter to his wife, Jackson said a man sold him the dog for $15 (about $420 today).

It turned out that the dusty alkali flats the travelers encountered would bother Bud's eyes so much (The Vermont had neither a roof nor windshield) that Jackson eventually fitted him with a pair of goggles. Bud was an instant celebrity and total natural with local reporters and photographers.

On July 26, the trio arrived in New York City making Bud the first pup to successfully complete a transcontinental American road trip.

Today, Bud's American Pub celebrates casual, contemporary American cuisine inspired by America's greatest adventure: the cross-country road trip.

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