page_title: Holt Manufacturing Company
section_title: British acknowledgement
hierarchical_section_title: Holt Manufacturing Company / Early military uses / British acknowledgement
caption_attribution_description: English: On April 22, 1918, British Colonel Ernest Dunlop Swinton (right) traveled to Stockton, California, to publicly honor Benjamin Holt (left) and the workforce for their contribution to the war effort. Benjamin Holt was recognized by the Colonel at a public meeting held in Stockton.
context_page_description: The Holt Manufacturing Company began with the 1883 founding of Stockton Wheel Service in Stockton, California, United States. Benjamin Holt, later credited with patenting the first workable crawler tractor design, incorporated the Holt Manufacturing Company in 1892. Holt Manufacturing Company was the first company to successfully manufacture a continuous track tractor By the early 20th century, Holt Manufacturing Company was the leading manufacturer of combine harvesters in the US, and the leading California-based manufacturer of steam traction engines.
  Holt Manufacturing Company operated from Stockton, California, until opening a satellite facility in Walla Walla, Washington, to serve the Pacific Northwest. In 1909 Holt Manufacturing Company expanded by purchasing the facility of defunct farm implement maker Colean Manufacturing Company in East Peoria, Illinois. Holt changed the name of the company to Holt Caterpillar Company, although he did not trademark the name Caterpillar until 1910.
  The company's initial products focused on agricultural machinery and were distributed internationally. During World War I, almost all of its production was military materiel.
context_section_description: In April 1918, British Colonel Ernest Swinton, who had unsuccessfully advocated using the Holt 75 as the base for an armoured fighting vehicle, traveled to Stockton while on a tour of the US, and publicly thanked Benjamin Holt and his workers for their contribution to the war effort, and relayed England's gratitude to the developer of the track. A wooden, miniature mockup of an early British tank, powered by a motorcycle engine, was built especially for and showcased in pictures of Colonel Swinton's visit.
caption: British Colonel Ernest Dunlop Swinton publicly honors the Holt company's contributions to WWI. A mock-up tank is on the left.
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