The Reunion

I am taking you back to little Lake City, Colorado today for a story that I think is interesting.

Lake City was playing host to an antique car club (in 2008) . It was on the calendar for the  car club to  stop in our quaint little town for the day. They were to bring around thirty vintage automobiles and their passengers would all be dressed in period costumes. 

Someone said ...wouldn't it be nice to have Lake City's first automobile (A 1910 Peerless) here for that event? Indeed it would..but no one knew where it was... or if it even still existed? This is where I get foggy on the details. I am not sure who conducted the search, but the search did ensue.

The very first automobile in Lake city a 1910 Peerless owned by Thomas L. Beam, son of one of the owner's
of the once famous Golden Wonder Mine, south of Lake City, Co. in Dead Man's Gulch

The car was located in Great Britain, owned by a man who drove it regularly in vintage car rallies (The London to Brighton Car Run).


 
To every one's surprise he agreed to ship (at his own expense) the car to Lake City, Colorado for the days event. Yes, that is correct. He shipped it across the Atlantic ocean, where it was loaded onto and eighteen wheeler (large truck) and delivered to Gunnison ,Colorado sixty miles north of Lake City . It was then driven, by the English owner, the sixty miles through the mountains, and pulled up in front of the museum (chugging and smoking a bit) at the allotted time, joining the other vintage cars. Remarkable enough.

The neatest part of this story (I think) is sitting front and center was one hundred and one year old Margaret L. Cummings, granddaughter of the original owner, Thomas L. Beam. Margaret, who had ridden in the car as a young child.. I don't think there was a dry eye in the crowd as we all witnessed this reunion.

* Margaret L. Cummings 1906-2010