Triumph and Tragedy, Cromwell Dixon July 9,1892-October 2, 1911

September 30, 2011 marks the 100^th anniversary of Cromwell Dixon’s flight from Helena to Blossburg. Dixon was the first pilot to fly over the Continental Divide. The feat was especially noteworthy when you consider that his airplane which resembled a motorized bicycle with wings. This daring flight, in addition to establishing a world record, netted him a reward of $10,000 which was offered by local aviation enthusiasts for the first airplane to fly over the Divide, among them Louis W. Hill, President of the Great Northern Railroad, Lewis Penwell, president of the state fair and land dealer, and John Ringling, of circus fame.

The Exhibition flight was part of the Montana State Fair and a large crowd gathered at the fairgrounds to watch. At 2:00 o’clock in the afternoon, in less than perfect flying conditions, Dixon took off. He circled the field once and headed west into strong headwinds, his destination seventeen miles away. The townspeople of Blossburg, excited to be a part of history, had built a fire to provide smoke to guide the aviator to their location. At 2:34 pm Cromwell Dixon landed in a grassy field, a short distance from town and delivered a letter of appreciation from Montana Governor, Edwin L. Norris to the people of Blossburg,. After sending a telegram to the Curtiss Exhibition Company in New York, advising him of his accomplishment, he climbed back onto his airplane and took off, flying back to Helena.

Cromwell Dixon’s next flying exhibition was not so triumphant. The Curtiss Exhibition Company, Dixon’s sponsor and booking agency, had booked him along with another aviator, to make three flights daily at the Interstate Fairgrounds at Spokane Washington. On October 2, 1911, just two days after his record breaking flight in Montana, Cromwell Dixon died from injuries sustained when his plane crashed to the ground during his first scheduled flight of the engagement. The horrified crowd watched as his plane fell more than a hundred feet. He was still alive when pulled from the wreckage but died less than an hour later at the Emergency hospital in Spokane. At the time of his death, he was only nineteen, the youngest licensed pilot in the country.
　
You can read more about Cromwell Dixon and other aviators in Montana history in Frank W. Wiley's book, Montana and the Sky, which was published by the Montana Aeronautics Commision in 1966