reasons, Lee County was unable to complete its portion of the Tamiami Trail. Jaudon had already purchased of land, mostly in Monroe County. His company, the Chevelier Corporation, came to the rescue and offered to build a link of the highway through its holdings in Monroe County if Dade and Lee counties would agree to re-route the Tamiami Trail through Monroe County. The proposal was accepted; the Chevelier Corporation began laying out a new route for the road and in 1921 began construction on the new segment of the Tamiami Trail. This segment is today known as Loop Road (located in Big Cypress National Preserve). In 1922, the State of Florida ran out of construction funds for the east–west portion. The following year, Barron Collier, an advertising mogul who had recently diversified his holdings by investing in various types of businesses and millions of acres of southwest Florida wilderness, pledged that he would bankroll the completion of the Tamiami Trail; in return, the State legislature would establish a new county and name it after him. So in 1923, Collier County was created out of the southern portion of Lee County. Almost immediately contention arose over the change of the route. The sponsors of the new county advocated for the original route, which was completely inside the boundaries of Collier County, and the State Road Department agreed with Collier County. Even so, the Board of County Commissioners of Dade County supported the Chevelier segment, since so much money had already been invested, and only a few miles of road were left to be completed. Despite this protest, the State Road Department reinstated the original route of the Tamiami Trail to be completed, and the already completed portion of roadway in Monroe County was accepted as a "South Loop" of the Tamiami Trail. As construction of the north–south section resumed, Collier hired A. R. Richardson to be the head engineer of the Naples-to-Miami section. A few months later, A. W. Frederick replaced Richardson, who returned to the Everglades Drainage District. The Tamiami Trail Blazers would launch an expedition leaving out of Fort Myers on April 4, 1923, with the goal of reaching Miami. The Blazers wanted to do this as a publicity stunt to try and get national attention. It would consist of a motorcade of 10 vehicles, a commissary truck, 7 Ford Model T's, an Elcar and a tractor, conveying 29