Conn, the ardent autoist, motors west

Almost 20 years before Route 66 was completed, which "winds from Chicago to L. A.," and almost 40 years before that highway was memorialized in the hit song that began, "If you ever plan to motor west," C. G. Conn did indeed "motor west." However, he used the rough roads that would eventually become Interstate 80, winding from his hometown of Elkhart, Indiana to the Pacific Coast.

It was 1908, and Conn, the "ardent autoist" (referred to by one reporter as a "hard driver," supposedly using up "two to three cars a season") and wealthy manufacturer of band instruments, planned an almost 4,000 mile road trip in his brand-new American Simplex Touring Car. 

Here's that car from the following year's catalog:

The road trip was big news in northern Indiana, and the initial report, from the April 18, 1908 edition of the Elkhart Daily Review, revealed that various modifications were made to the car to prepare it for the arduous journey:

As that last paragraph clarified, while the trip was projected to take "a good share of the summer," it was planned primarily for pleasure, and would include times to hunt and fish along the way.

Travelling with Conn was his chauffeur, George Reims, his "companion and great fisherman," Arthur Wilson, and (as reported later) a mechanic by the name of Walter Woods (there may have been one other passenger, who was not named). Leaving Elkhart on the morning of April 29, their first stop was the American Simplex factory in nearby Mishawaka, where they were met with a "band playing and banners flying." Conn was a "heavy stockholder" in the car company.

They proceeded to South Bend, where we learn many more details about that first day, which was full of pageantry and celebration. With Conn for this short leg of the journey was his daughter, Sallie, but apparently not his wife. Here's the full report from that day's late edition of the South Bend Tribune:

Their next stop was Chicago, where they spent the better part of three days, and then they slowly made their way through Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, and southern Wyoming, apparently without incident. But in Ogden, Utah, they were met with "wretched road conditions," due to heavy rain, and were forced to remain in that region for three weeks (see the full report below for details).

The challenges they faced as they made their way through northern Utah and Nevada are revealed in the following photos, included in the 1909 American Simplex catalog:

At some point, as they were heading toward San Francisco, Conn's chauffeur decided to return home, as reported in the June 12 edition of the South Bend Tribune:

But on June 23, Conn and the remainder of his party rolled into San Francisco, as reported in the July 2 edition of that same paper:

From there, they drove down the beautiful California coast, arriving in Los Angeles on July 10, after which the July 12 edition of The Los Angeles Times provided this full report of the 55 day, 3,706 mile journey:

Just over a week after their arrival in southern California, Conn went fishing around the Channel Islands, which is something he would do a lot in the years to come (more on that in a future post). Here's what the July 21 edition of The Los Angeles Times reported:

At that time, there were rumors about Conn running for governor of Indiana, but the July 29 edition of the Times made it clear what he was most interested in at that time:

Conn remained out west until late March 1909, at which point he took the train home, rather than making the return trip in his car, as the reports above mentioned. He had been away for almost exactly eleven months. Here's the brief notice of his return from the March 29 edition of the Elkhart Daily Review:

But within a few months, Conn was back fishing in the waters around Catalina Island, with one of the latest models of an American Simplex car awaiting his use when he was on the mainland. Here's the brief report in the September 12, 1909 edition of the Los Angeles Herald: 

Understandably, the Simplex Motor Car Co. used Conn's cross-country trip to boast about the quality of their automobiles. In their 1909 catalog, from which all of the photos above come, they wrote,

Perhaps the most conclusive test that has ever been made of American Simplex construction was embodied in an intensely interesting tour made early in the summer of 1908 by Colonel C. G. Conn of Elkhart, Ind., formerly Congressman from Indiana. Mr. Conn drove the car from the factory to Los Angeles, Cal., making side trips of great distances from the large cities through which he passed, so that the car traversed about 10,000 miles [apparently an overstatement]. These details have an important bearing on what follows as showing the absolute trustworthiness of the American Simplex.

Here's the cover of that catalog:

On October 29, 1909, Conn wrote a letter of endorsement to the company, based on his experience driving across the country:

In upcoming posts, I will dig a bit more into Conn as an "ardent autoist," as well as explore the new life he created for himself out west, which seems to have begun with this epic road trip in 1908. Stay tuned!

Eldon Baker - An Early Bass Soloist

Eldon Baker (1860-1935) with his bass Antoniophone in 1889 as part of Gilmore's Band

One of my favorite things to happen in the course of my research is to hear from someone who is related to a long-forgotten musician that I have drawn attention to in my work. Just last night I discovered a Facebook Messenger request from an 82-year-old woman who recently learned that the bass player above is her maternal great grandfather!

She has been working on her family tree to connect all of the dots, but reached out to me, based on an old TubeNet post of mine related to that funky instrument in the photo, to see if I could shed any light on Eldon as a musician. 

Well, I love this sort of thing, and welcomed the opportunity to dig back into my research files and see what I could piece together about this remarkable bass player. Here's what I've learned so far . . .

Eldon Baker (1860-1935) was born in Quebec, but by the time he was in his late teens, he was living with his family in St. Albans, Vermont, and performing with the St. Albans Brigade Band, which consisted of 24 young men, led by H. W. Hatch. In the band with him were his brothers, Calino (or Calno; Eb Clarionet) and Clarence (Solo Euphonium). Eldon himself was listed not merely as a tuba player, but as "Solo Tuba." Here's a brief review of the 19-year-old soloist in the November 1, 1879 edition of the Swanton Courier:

The three Baker brothers, along with three other musicians, formed a small dance orchestra, to perform at the dances that frequently followed concerts by the band. Eldon, it appears, played the upright bass in this group:

But it was his tuba solos with the band that continued to be popular with the audience, as noted here in the May 17, 1880 edition of the St. Alban's Daily Messenger:

By the end of that year, he was on the road with a minstrel show, as reported in the November 27, 1880 edition of that same paper. Keep in mind, he had just turned 20-years-old a few months earlier!

Two years later, Eldon went on the road with comedian Johnny (or Johnnie) Prindle. Here's what was reported in the August 12, 1882 edition of the Swanton Courier:

It should be noted that, in those days, as well as today, featuring, much less being, a tuba soloist was exceedingly rare. But Eldon was apparently quite a sensation! He was part of the "Silver Band and Classic Orchestra" that supported the "Chaste and Refined" comedy routines of Prindle (so, while it was billed as a "Pleasure Party," apparently the comedy was clean!):

By early 1885, he was based in Minneapolis and featured in "Prof. Danz' and Siebert's Orchestra," Here's the earliest notice I found about this, from the April 27 edition of the Minneapolis Tribune, and notice that he is, once again, a soloist:

Within a few months, Eldon was eager to upgrade his instrument, to keep pace with his rising star (this was reported in the June 13 edition of the Saint Paul Globe): 

It appears that he remained with the Danz Orchestra until sometime in 1886, when he moved to Knoxville, Tennessee to join Crouch's band (as reported in the September 26 edition of the Knoxville Journal):

A year later, we find him back in Minneapolis, but this time as a guest soloist with the Danz Orchestra, according to the October 6, 1887 edition of the Minneapolis Tribune:

But at some point shortly after that, Eldon hit the big time, as Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore, hailed as "the greatest bandmaster in the world," recruited him to join his celebrated band. Gilmore switched him from tuba to the unique new brass horn known as an Antoniophone, and here's one of the earliest references I found of him being featured as a soloist on the bass version of that instrument (from the May 3, 1888 edition of Nashville's Daily American):

At one point, Gilmore featured a quintette of Antoniophones in his band, as seen here in a photograph from the September 28, 1889 edition of Harper's Weekly (that's Eldon on the right, with the bass version):

The accompanying article had this to say about these horns:

Later that year, while Gilmore's Band was touring the country, we learn that Eldon remained one of Gilmore's favorite soloists. Here's a page from the program created for the concerts in Portland, Oregon on November 4 and 5, 1889 (see number 14 below):

And here is yet another image of Eldon with Gilmore's Band that year (this time in St. Louis, a few months earlier; he is directly behind Gilmore's music stand, holding his bass Antoniophone):

A roster for Gilmore's Band from 1890 lists Eldon as having been in the band for three years by that point (so starting in either 1887 or 1888), and continues to connect him with the bass Antioniophone. Two years later, in 1892, Gilmore formed a band of one hundred, which he dubbed "The Greatest Band in the World," and Eldon was part of it.

Gilmore suddenly died while that massive band was at the St. Louis Exposition that fall, but when D. W. Reeves was elected Gilmore's successor, Eldon remained on the roster (number 89 below):

John Philip Sousa launched his new band just two days after Gilmore died, and eventually seventeen members of Gilmore's Band decided to join Sousa in the new venture (four joined prior to Gilmore's death, and thirteen after).

Eldon was one of those who left for Sousa after Gilmore's death, but apparently not until the Spring tour of 1893. Earlier that year, we find him playing tuba in a special New York orchestra of "Seventy Crack Musicians" that had just been formed (as reported in the February 25, 1893 edition of Brookyn's Standard Union):

But by April, Eldon is listed as one of Gilmore's former players who was now on tour with Sousa. This is from the April 23, 1893 edition of the Buffalo Sunday Morning News, where he is considered one of the "magnificent performers" on the tuba, along with Herman Conrad:

However, it appears that Eldon played with Sousa for just that year (there is no record of him in that band for any following year). But at some point he ended up in Frederick Innes' band, as noted in the July 18, 1895 edition of Canton, Ohio's Stark County Democrat:

After leaving Innes' band in a huff (as noted above!), it seems that he rejoined Gilmore's Band, which was now under the direction of Victor Herbert. Eldon was one of many former members of that band who had been active when Gilmore was still leading it, as reported in the September 26, 1896 edition of the Philadelphia Times:

It appears that Eldon remained with Gilmore's Band, under Herbert, until 1900, at which point he joined Phinney's United States Band, as reported in the September 8, 1902 edition of the St. Alban's Daily Messenger:

Here is a photo of that band from 1901, while they were at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo. Eldon is presumably in the photo, but I can't quite make him out:

The last reference I have found (so far!) to Eldon playing in a band or orchestra is from the January 6, 1911 edition of the Hastings Daily Republican. At that point, at age 50, he was playing with an orchestra that supported the travelling troupe that performed a revival of the Broadway musical, The Prince of Pilsen:

Where and when he may have played after 1911, and prior to his death in 1935, has yet to be discovered. But if I learn more, I'll add it to this post. 

However, it is quite clear from the evidence above that Eldon Baker was one of the truly great bass players, and perhaps one of the most celebrated bass soloists, of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, playing with some of the greatest bands of that era.

I would have loved to have heard him play!

UPDATE: While I haven't yet found an obituary, I did find this from the November 8, 1953 edition of the Vermont Sunday News, 18 years after Eldon's passing: