Continuing on to the train depot, the men then rested and looked forward to a swim at Lake Roosevelt down the road. Col. Glenn emerged from the telegraph office at the depot to announce that he had just received orders for them to return to Douglas immediately and prepare to entrain to Yuma . They had no choice but to turn around and re-cross the river and head back to Douglas . They expected to reach Tucson by eight that evening where they would camp and start for Douglas the next morning.

The second battalion of the 18th camped in Florence a few days later on their way back from Roosevelt . They crossed the river under their own power without the help of teams or men pulling. The Arizona Blade Tribune further stated “The test was extraordinary and the trucks seemed to be giving satisfaction thus far”. The Gila River Bridge was eventually replaced.

Velie motor company was started by Willard Velie, a grandson of John Deere. The company started in Moline IL and the company was quite successful in creating a high quality low priced car from 1908 to 1928. The trucks were an outgrowth of the car line and eventually during World War I Velie also produced a military airplane utilizing the best features of the automobile for aircraft.

Velie vehicles were not new to Arizona . In 1910 a Los Angeles to Phoenix Road Race had 14 cars entered including one Velie owned by E.R. Stearns and driven by John Stickney. The Velie arrived in Phoenix in just under 20 hours which gave it fifth place. Automobiles, still a novelty, inspired other motor races in the west. On Nov. 16, 1915 at the Arizona Fair in Tucson , in a 100 mile race, a Velie took second place. Travis Bailey of Silver City NM , was the driver and missed the $1000 first place purse by three minutes. A former Velie driver and mechanic, Red Brewer of Globe AZ, took third driving a different brand of car.

Willard Velie died in 1928 and his son took over and the manufacturing of automobiles ended in favor of the airplanes. There are only 230 Velies left in the world and a registry lists them in the USA, South Africa , Europe, South America , New Zealand , Australia , and Canada . Whether any of those Florence crossing Velie trucks is among them is unknown.