Fort Missoula, for nearly a century a military fort, is now a National Historic Place and park. In the park are a few of the pre 20th century buildings from the original 1877 fort and many buildings from the early 1900s. They have an eclectic collection of large artefacts, including machinery and tractors, a lookout tower, railroad engine and cars, a tipi burner, the old Drummond, MT RR station, an old school and an old mission, artillery and a historical museum. It's a great place to spend an afternoon or a whole day.
There are a few Cats outside, as well as several in a long pole barn. This hulking big Holt is in the pole barn along with its Caterpillar brethren. The largest of the Holt tractors produced, the
75 had a huge 22.9 Litre 4-cyl gasoline engine that produced all of 75 HP at the belt. It accomplished this while turning over at a speed that today would be barely an idle - 550 RPM. Produced from 1913 to 1924, the machine weighs 23,500 lbs., about on par with a Cat D7. It was given only two forward and one reverse gear and was doubtless a slow moving machine. As we all know, it was
Holt, along with Best, who merged to become Caterpillar in 1925.
Brothers Charles and Benjamin Holt earned a small fortune selling wheels and other wagon parts in California. Benjamin recognized the potential of the newly invented combine harvester, and they began development in 1886. In 1891, Holt introduced the self-leveling combine for use on hillsides and took a strong position in the combine market, competing with Best. Holt followed Best into the steam tractor business. At the turn of the century, Holt took an interest in using crawler tracks to provide traction and buoyancy to steam tractors. The first tracked Holt was tested in 1904, and a commentator is reported to have said, "She crawls along like a caterpillar", providing the inspiration for the trademark. Difficult times in the tractor business in the 1920s forced a merger between Holt and Best. Spurred by corporate bankers, the two firms consolidated operations in 1925 into the Caterpillar Tractor Company.
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