Thousands showed up at Reno's Blanchfield Airport on Monday, Sept. 19, 1927 to greet aviator Charles Lindbergh.

He nearly crashed the famous Spirit of St. Louis into a fence.

Lindbergh was on a tour of all 48 states less than four months after becoming the first solo pilot to cross the Atlantic, and made his only Nevada stop at Reno's relatively small airport (a site now occupied by the Washoe County Golf Course).

Lindbergh paraded through the streets of Reno as an estimated 10,000 onlookers cheered — many of them wearing "Lucky Lindy" badges sold by local Boy Scouts and Girls' Reserve members to raise funds for the festivities. He was escorted by members of the Nevada football team, which included players Jake Lawlor and Edwin "Tip" Whitehead and head coach Buck Shaw, who went on to

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