At one time snowmobiles have been called Snow Toboggans, Motor Sleighs, Motor Sleds, Air Sled and Power Sled. Ask snowmobile enthusiast about when, where and who invented the first snowmobile, and you will probably get different answers. I venture to say those answers would depend on what state you were in at the time. Ask that question in the Northwoods and you will most likely hear the name Eliason. Truth is that the origin of snowmobiling has been disputed between Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota and Canada. Spoiler alert, it’s none of those.

The first snowmobile built in Wisconsin was called a Motor Toboggan in 1917 by Carl Eliason of Sayner Wisconsin. That motor toboggan was powered by a 2 ½ hp outboard motor cooled by a Model T radiator and was steered with ropes. This motor toboggan was also the first snow machine that was ever marketed and went into production in 1922. Eliason produced 40 machines (BUILT BY HAND) between 1922 and 1926 and not one was alike. In 1927, Eliason had the first workable, single-track snowmobile that he patented. Then in 1932, he built a much better model using an Indian motorcycle engine that could run over 40 mph.

After crashing their first one in 1930 two residents of Michigan built an Air-Sled, using a plane fuselage with wooden runners and in 1931 the second one topped out at 85 mph. In 1914 two brothers from Minnesota made a Snowmo-Cycle powered by a 2-cycle motorcycle engine and in 1917 a man from St Paul Minnesota built something similar using a bigger Henderson 4-cylinder engine. Not to be left out, by attaching a Model T engine to a propeller mounted on wooden sleigh runners in 1922 Joseph Bombardier added Canada to the list.

So, who and where was the first snow machine built?  In 1905 American Motor Sleigh company of Boston patented their motor sleigh but stopped in 1906 due to low sales. In 1909 a snow machine designed with tracks and front skis for traveling on snow was built for hauling logs in Waterville Maine. Then in 1913 ford dealership in New Hampshire produced attachments allowing a Model T automobile to be driven on snow.

Sorry Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, and Canada, but the Runnoe brothers of Crested Butte Colorado had the first patent on their POWER SLED in 1896. And that should end the first snowmobile when, where and who argument.