Sisters to retrace historic Lincoln Highway trip

A century ago, silent film actress Anita King became the first female driver to traverse the United States.

And starting today, three of her great-great-nieces will attempt to follow in her tracks.

One of those descendants, Lucianne Boardman, said King encountered several challenges during her 1915 journey in a convertible Kissel Kar, including an encounter with a coyote.

'It took Anita 49 days, because the roads were not all paved back then,” said Boardman, 62, of Chippewa Falls, Wis. 'The Lincoln Highway wasn't paved, she had to dig herself out of mud quite often and it took her quite a while. She would stop at each town and speak at the local movie theater. There would be crowds there just wanting to see her and she had quite a following.”

Boardman and her sisters Aleta Beckman Wilke, 56, of Lake Mills, Wis., and Heather Pancratz, 52, of Nikolaevsk, Alaska, won't be traveling in the same type of vehicle, and anticipate they will have a smoother journey, as long as they don't drive each other crazy.

They plan to stop in Reno Monday night, after a 10-hour drive. Every other day they will drive five or six hours, Boardman said, and plan to arrive in New York City next Monday.

King was born in Michigan City, Ind., and starred in more than 19 silent movies, many directed by Cecil B. DeMille. In 1915, DeMille and producer Jesse Lasky challenged King to become the first woman to drive solo on the Lincoln Highway from San Francisco to New York.

'Every family I'm sure has a story to be told,” Boardman said. 'We're pretty fortunate that we had an exceptional aunt that was in our ancestry. Being able to share it with your loved ones, your family, so that the story can be passed on from generation to generation is pretty exciting.”

Wilke said she is looking forward to bonding time with her sisters.

'I wanted to do this to bring some attention to what our great, great aunt did,” Wilke said. 'She was a woman before her time. I would love to get a kinship of what she went through and where she was.”