Harris Hanshue & Apperson

The article in attachment HarrisHenshue052309 was published in the Indianapolis News on May 23, 1909, and provides a brief profile on driver Harris Hanshue. Hanshue went on to found Western Air Express in 1928 and was later inducted into the Nevada Aerospace Hall of Fame.
 
This article was published when Hanshue was 27 years old. He is described as five feet, nine inches tall and weighing 200 pounds. Hanshue was primarily a west coast driver and the point of the article was that Southern California Apperson automobile dealer Leon T. Shettler had entered him in the inaugural Santa Monica road race. This was the first major road race on the west coast and previously Apperson had only competed in the annual Altadena-Pasadena Hill Climb where company Founder Edgar Apperson won the previous year.
 
Hanshue ended up winning the Santa Monica race, known as the Dick Ferris Trophy. The article also reports that Shettler planned to enter Hanshue in the Mt. Baldy 100-mile road race in September and the November Los Angeles to Phoenix.
 
With respect to the Ferris Trophy, the donor, Dick Ferris is referenced in the December 23, 1909, Indianapolis News article in attachment BumbaughNews122309. Ferris was the general manager of an aviation meet planned in Los Angeles planned for January 10 through 20. Ferris announced that his team had attracted 58 "airships" to the meet, which offered $80,000 in prizes. Among the craft entered were 14 biplanes, 16 monoplanes, four aeroplanes (not sure what these were if not single wing or biplanes), five dirigibles, three ornithopters, one gyroplane and nine balloons. One of the balloons was entered by George Bumbaugh, who had been Indianapolis Motor Speedway Founder Carl Fisher.
 
Another Indianapolis News article (attachment AppersonNews020610) was published several months later and is a nice update referencing several of the events discussed above. This article notes racing plans of the Apperson Automobile Company for 1910. It reports a desire to build on success in 1909, which the article says included five victories and two seconds in eight Pacific Coast races. The driver was Hanshue, who drove an Apperson Jack Rabbit for Leon T. Shettler. The article says that because of this success with Shettler's private entry, Hanshue had been contracted with the factory as a team driver.
 
Shettler was not left out of the deal. The company contracted him to manage team efforts. This deal was reportedly struck during the recent Chicago Automobile Show.
 
The article lists events anticipated by the company and its team:

• Pasadena-Altadena hill climb in March. Apperson had won this contest the two previous years.
• Portland Road Race in June.
• Ferris Cup, Santa Monica, June 10.
• Los Angeles to Phoenix, September.
• Portola Trophy, Oakland, October.
• Mt. Baldy 100, November - a road race.
• Relands, California hill climb, November.
• Denver road race, May (tentative at the time of this report).

 
Apperson's calendar of racing events in the Eastern United States had not yet been settled. There was interest in the Vanderbilt Cup and the Cobe Trophy.