Charles A. Lindbergh's first passenger in his new Jenny

The picture is from the Library of Congress

A town, luckily, came into view. It was Meridian, Mississippi, but it lacked any field he could see. Charles flew around and located a large field; he flew over a few times, making sure it was safe to land, looking for ditches, rocks, and a flat place to land. Charles attracted a large crowd. One of the many ranchers and farmers invited Charles to stay in his house, where he called for a gasoline truck to come out and gas his plane. A former World War one pilot was interested in a ride, and for 5.00 dollars, Lindbergh took him up. The field was soft ground, and the retired pilot was quite heavy. Charles Jenny stalled over the farthest fence of the field and cleared by 3 feet. After that, he cleared the nearest trees by five feet. His Jenny fought with the slope for what seemed to be forever and finally cleared it.

  Charles left Meridian, Mississippi, for the general direction of Texas. He had forgotten he’d left the compase in his suitcase and forgotten to install it but located a railroad crossroads and satisfied the location.