Reversing History, '49er Family Treks East

Slade Gorton '49, and his family stayed overnight at Edgerton House in Hanover during their cross-country bicycle trip this summer.

Gorton, Attorney General of the State of Washington, wife Sally, and their children, Tod, 14; Sarah Jane, 13; and Becky, 11 left their home in Olympia immediately after school on June 6, 1973 and after lunch in Woodstock, Vt., arrived in Hanover early the afternoon of July 18, 1973. They were met there by Slade's brother Mike '56, his wife Phyllis, and their children, Kimberly, who is 8 and Michael, 3, who live in Dedham, Mass.

Bicycling with the Washington Gortons on the last week of the trip was Gorton's younger brother Nathaniel '60, whose wife Jodi and their children, Kerry, 3½ and Craig, 1, accompanied the group by car from Ilion, N.Y. The Nat Gortons live in Wellesley.

The family adventure was marred when Slade was struck by a hit and run driver outside of Erie, Pa., July 12. After putting more than 40 stitches in his upper thigh, the surgeon ordered Slade off his bike and into a car, which had to be rented. After seeing a second doctor in Newark, N.Y., who said "Bicycle when you feel up to it," he began to borrow bicycles from other members of the group and did short distances each day until he reached Hanover. Dean Carroll Brewster loaned his bicycle to Gorton so he could finish the trip. (Gorton's bicycle had been damaged in the accident and shipped back to Olympia.)

The journey ended officially early Friday afternoon July 20, (46 days) at the Fisherman's Memorial in Gloucester, Mass., then the family wheeled another four miles to Annisquam, where his parents, Mr. and Mrs. T. Slade Gorton, make their summer home. But early Sunday morning, while there was no traffic, the group pedaled into Boston to leave their bicycles with United Airlines at Logan Field.

Since their return to the West Coast, the Gortons have learned that 11-year-old Becky has been accepted by Guinness World Book of Records as the youngest cross-country cyclist for its 1975 edition.

In recounting the trip, Slade said, "Sally and I decided to do it because of the impressionable age of our children and its use as an educational tool to teach them about the size, variety, and people of the United States. We succeeded beyond our wildest expectations, and found that it was at least as educational for the adults as well ..."

Gorton, who received his class Golden Pick Ax award in 1970, plans to return in June for the 25th Reunion of his class, but at this time the family will drive and bring their bicycles.

Cross-continent cyclists, the Gortons, found a welcome and familiar background inHanover this summer: (l to r) Nathaniel Gorton '60 (who joined the group in Ilion,N.Y.), Becky, 11; Slade '49, wife Sally; Tod, 14; and Sarah Jane, 13.