Taken  from  the Gladewater Mirror,  January 13, 1955.

The first car in Gladewater was a 1910 red Buick.  It was puchased in Dallas by L J Everett.  This car had right hand drive with brake and shift levers on the outside of the car.  It was equipped with two carbide lights in the front and two on the fenders.

Mrs. L J Everette wrote the following story in 1955 when she was 89 years of age:  "Mr Everett, the owner of the car, was a new employee in a Longview bank, and he felt that he should meet the people in the surrounding communities.  We planned our first trip in our new car to Peatown, a community south of Longview, on the Fourth of July, for an all day singing and dinner on the ground.

We invited Doc Shepperd to be our guest since he had kinfolks living in Peatown.  Doc owned the livery stable here and he was very prominent in the community.  He was tall and very hand-some-always well dressed.  He was nervous as he seated himself in the rear seat and held on to the clothes rod.

On this occasion, we all had on our Sunday best clothes.  The men wore dark suits with snow white shirts and detachable celluoid collars and cuffs, which was a must for the well dressed man in those days.

We left home at 9 o'clock expecting to arrive at 10:30 am, but we did not anticipate seeing all the stock in the county on the highway.  Many horses and cows had collected at Moody Creek..

There was no bridge and we had to stop and drive them out of the creek so we could pass. We had to drive stock out of the road all along the way.

We had an unusual experience as we met an old colored couple in a buggy.  When he heard our car, he jumped out and got the horses by the bits.  The horses were rearing up!  The old man hollering for dear life "Stop that thing."  He was trying at the same time to get his wife out of the buggy.  She finally jumped and must have made a big hole in the ground.  I had never seen such a large woman.  She started running and left the old man holding the horses.

The next obstacle we encountered was a sand bed. That Buick was guaranteed to pull all hills--even to Pikes Peak, but it would not pull that sand bed!  Mr Everett speeded up the motor and the wheels began to spin.  I'd never heard such sputtering, and the smoke began to roll back of the car.  Finally, a tire blew!  Everett and Doc just looked at each other
and said nothing.  They knew their time for action had come.  They shed their coats, removed their collars and cuffs, and hung them on bushes beside the road to keep them fresh and clean.  This was their first experience at fixing a flat and pumping up the tire by hand.  It took them a very long time.  They finally finished, picking up their tools, replaced their
collars and cuffs, and we were on our way again.

We reached Peatown, about one o'clock.  Ours was the only car at the gathering, and when we drove up we created much of a sensation.  A crowd of curious children and grown-ups gathered quickly to see our vehicle.

A bountiful dinner was already spread and a very courteous welcome was extended to us. We stayed until late in the afternoon and by driving at the high speed of six to eight miles per hour, we managed to get back home by sundown.  It was such an awakening experience to realize that one could make such a long trip in just one day!"