04/17/2025
Here is an interesting story that we published a few years ago in the Sentinel.
The Zinc City to Panama Exposition
One hundred and ten years ago, two Webb City youths, Carl Yokum and Cecil Kemper, decided to travel to the 1915 World’s Fair in San Francisco, California. The boys wanted to advertise Webb City as the central and most important zinc and lead mining district in Southwest Missouri.
The fair was called the Panama-Pacific International Exposition and was held between February 20th and December 4th, 1915. The purpose of the fair was to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal and the revival of San Francisco after the devastating 1906 earthquake.
The two 16 year old boys left Webb City on March 24, 1915 after a big send off from Webb City citizens and merchants. Money for the trip was primarily raised by selling picture postcards of the boys with their wagon that they were going to pull on their 2300 mile trip. The Webb City Register initially printed 2000 postcards. These cards were sold on the streets and in local
business houses for whatever someone offered them and in many instances, men paid 50 cents to a dollar apiece for each card. Mayor J. E. Locke, Dr. L. C. Chenoweth and many other citizens sent letters with the boys as a credential of their good citizenship and their worthiness in receiving the support of “postcard” patrons along the way. Carl Yokum with his cornet and Cecil Kemper, a born cartoonist, expected to pick up a few stray nickels by performing in the streets along the way.
The boys reported their weekly progress each week to The Webb City Register. They received help along the way from the Boy Scouts, the Y. M. C. A., school societies, church organizations and business men’s clubs. Kansas farmers purchased postcards for 25 cents apiece and often gave the boys two meals and a bed free of charge. They were chased by a bull near Cherryvale, Kansas, narrowly escaping by diving through a hedge and pulling their little red wagon in behind them. When they reached Oberlin, Kansas, Carl received word that his mother was seriously ill and he returned to Webb City. Birdie Morgan had been suffering from tuberculosis but had urged her son to go on the expedition. Mrs. Morgan passed away on May 20, 1915 at age 36. Carl was able to spend the last three weeks of her life with her recanting his experiences on the trip. Cecil waited for Carl until he was able to rejoin him in Oberlin. From Oberlin, the boys walked to Denver, Colorado then to Cheyenne, Wyoming reaching the Lincoln Highway there and followed it to San Francisco. They reached the World’s Fair on August 9, 1915 after an estimated traveling time of 3 ½ months. The odometer on their wagon registered 2327 miles. Their best traveling time was 47 miles in one day between Sacramento and Stockton, California.
The trip was not an easy one. The boys endured the muddy roads of Missouri and Kansas, a blizzard near Fredonia, encounters with coyotes and rattlesnakes, drenching rain and the burning Nevada desert. Both members of the Boys Scouts of America, the boys drew on their training to help them deal with these obstacles. They both reported that they never once thought of turning back. There were also many wondrous and beautiful things to experience along the way such as camping at the Great Continental Divide, trout fishing near Green River, Wyoming, walking through the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the lush Sacramento Valley with its enormous fruit orchards.
The lead and zinc that was carried in their wagon was put on display at the Missouri Building at the exposition. The boys found jobs at the exposition to help pay for their expenses. Cecil Kemper returned to Webb City on November 5, 1915. Carl Yokum remained in San Francisco to help wreck the buildings on the fairgrounds after the fair had completed.
Caption for photo:
Carl Yokum and Cecil Kemper pictured with the “little” red wagon that they pulled to California. The wagon weighed 125 lbs. It was packed with two blankets, an axe, extra clothing, lead and zinc samples, and the California Auto Blue Book which served as their guidebook on the journey. Traveling the muddy roads of Missouri and Kansas resulted in broken axles and punctured tires. The wagon was shipped by rail to Webb City in January 1916 and put on display in Roy Teel’s store window.
