Beginning with the Nevada City-Washington route in the 1860s, the Gissel line eventually covered much of the county west of Donner Summit. Then, in 1909, the brothers took the bold step of replacing a horse-drawn stage with a horseless carriage for their most challenging route: Nevada City-Downieville –– a tortuous trip for both the vehicle and driver. And for that job they hired Eugene Ely, a professional driver and mechanic then living in San Francisco.
My last exchange of emails with John Zobel was in 2014, so I was pleasantly surprised when his brother, Dave, contacted me recently to let me know that John’s account of Ely’s life –– including a mention of his time here –– had just been published by the Naval Institute Press. Sadly, however, I learned that John, only 56, had died in 2017 after summiting 22,838-foot Mt. Aconcagua in Argentina. Fortunately, his widow, LaVerne Woods, and Dave Zobel were able to edit and prepare John’s draft manuscript for publication, resulting in “Eugene Ely: Pioneer of Naval Aviation.”
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