PIKE COUNTY, Mo. —  If you use a road atlas on vacation this summer, thank a man from Pike County Missouri.

In an era before Mapquest and Smart phones, Louisiana native George Clason was the king of cartography.

He produced what is considered the first functional guide for long trips and short getaways at a time when auto travel began to take off.

And if it was not enough to help people find their way from an Arizona town named Why to a Mississippi burg called Whynot, Clason offered advice in a self-help book that’s been read by millions.

Clason’s map company went bankrupt during the Great Depression, but his atlases were used by travelers nationwide for decades.

In addition, he turned business failure into success with the publication of “The Richest Man in Babylon.” It contains timeless financial principles and guidance.

Clason died in 1957 at age 82, but his advice lives on. One of his sayings has stood the test of time – In those things toward which we exerted our best endeavors, we succeeded.