In 1917, Ford dealer Virgil D. White of Ossipee, New Hampshire, designed and built track and ski attachments for the Model T Ford’s he was selling. This allowed them to be converted into what he called a Snowmobile, a term he coined and received a copy write for. These Virgil D. White conversion kits became very popular with rural mail carriers, wilderness doctors, and anyone wanting a better way to traverse a snowy landscape.
In 1926, Three Lakes Wisconsin held a winter sports carnival on a big hill at what is now Camp Luther, and on the ice of Range Line Lake below. A number of winter sporting events were organized, including toboggan races, hockey games, and Wisconsin’s first ever snowmobile race.
Harold Hanson of Eagle River, and Bill Neu of Three Lakes, both owned the Virgil D. White style Model T Snowmobiles. Hanson was representing the Strong and Manly Ford garage in Eagle River, and Neu drove for the Badger Garage of Three Lakes, where they had made some special tune ups to Neus snow machine, nicknamed “The Tramp”.
On January 31st, 1926, over 200 spectators were on hand at Range Line Lake to witness this pioneering snowmobile race. As the contest began, it became apparent that Hanson’s machine was suffering. He had put alcohol in the radiator to prevent it from freezing up, coupled with a new engine that didn’t have enough time to break in, the Strong and Manly machine had to drop out of the race. Bill Neu and his Tramp successfully completed the circuit on Range Line Lake and was determined the clear winner, taking home a .22 caliber rifle as a prize, and of course bragging rights that Three Lakes had beat Eagle River in the first ever Snowmobile Race in Wisconsin.
This first race would not be the last in the Northwoods, as we know, a number of Northwoods snowmobile races would be organized after 1926, culminating into the World Championship Snowmobile Races held annually in Eagle River.
Sources: Newspaper Articles 1926, 1969. Http://www.modeltfordsnowmobile.com/lcmainbriefhistory.htm
