Over the Top – A Battle with the Elements
R: Unknown. P: Earle Films. USA 1915
Original title: The 1915 Buick, Across the Sierra from San Francisco to Reno

“In the early 1900’s Reno was the economic center of the Eastern Sierra. – With livestock, agriculture and mining making up the economy, folks would travel to Reno to do their business, ship and receive goods being delivered by rail from the east and west coast industrial centers – there was no tourism industry, no gaming, as we know it. It was to be legalized 15 years later.
The economic lifeblood of this community of 12-15,000 was the railroad, which was similar to all of the towns east of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and west of the Rockies. A serious problem arose in early 1916, when the railroad increased freight rates for shorter hauls than a longer haul on the same line in the same direction. A local organization called the Reno Commercial Club began organizing business groups in Reno, and other towns to the east to lobby Washington to pass legislation to make such practices unlawful.

It is thought by many that this was the basis for organizing the Rotary Club of Reno. Just another organization to provide more names to impress Congress with the petition. Although this may be conjecture to some extent, when one reviews the manner in which the Club was chartered, one would have the tendency to agree with the circumstances. I’ll leave it up to you to decide.”
History of the Rotary Club of Reno