Caterpillar Tractor Collection

Cultivating potato-fields, west side of San Joaquin Valley, California, 1939. Creator: Dorothea Lange
West side of San Joaquin Valley, California. Caterpillar diesel type tractor is common in California. Only very large-scale operations can afford this type. Cultivating potato-fields

Cultivating potato field, California, 1939. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Cultivating potato field. California

Cultivating potato-fields, west side of San Joaquin Valley, California, 1939. Creator: Dorothea Lange
West side of San Joaquin Valley, California. Caterpillar diesel type tractor is common in California. Only very large-scale operations can afford this type. Cultivating potato-fields

Caterpillar hauling freight on the lake in spring to the Yukon, between c1900 and c1930. Creator: Unknown
Caterpillar hauling freight on the lake in spring to the Yukon, between c1900 and c1930

One of the Motor Sledges, 1911, (1913). Artist: Herbert Ponting
One of the Motor Sledges, 1911, (1913). The final expedition of British Antarctic explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott (1868-1912) left London on 1 June 1910 bound for the South Pole

Caterpillar clearing land on cut... western Washington farm, Lewis County, Western Washington, 1939
Western Washington, Lewis County. Caterpillar clearing land on cut-over western Washington farm

Large-scale, mechanized farming - potato planter, Kern County, California, 1939. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Kern County, California. Large-scale mechanized farming. The potato planter, operated by a crew of three men, makes the rows, fertilizes and plants potatoes in one operation

Possibly: Large scale agriculture, near Meloland, Imperial Valley, 1939. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Near Meloland, Imperial Valley. Large scale agriculture. Gang labor, Mexican and white, from the Southwest. Pull, clean, tie

Large-scale agricultural gang labor, Mexicans and... near Meloland, Imperial Valley, 1939 Creator: Dorothea Lange
Large-scale agricultural gang labor, Mexicans and whites from the Southwest pull, clean, tie and crate carrots for the eastern market for eleven cents per crate of forty-eight bunches

8 a. m. migratory field workers pulling carrots in a field, near Meloland, Imperial County, CA
8 a.m. Migratory field workers pulling carrots in a field. Note carrot digging tractor in background. " They ll sleep in the row (to hold a place in the field)

Chief Stoker Lashly (Who received the Albert Medal), 1911, (1913). Artist: Herbert Ponting
Chief Stoker Lashly (Who received the Albert Medal), 1911, (1913). William Lashly (1867-1940) standing next to a motor sledge

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Caterpillar Tractors: Transforming Agriculture from 1911 to 1939 From hauling freight on the lake to the Yukon in the early 1900s (Unknown, "Caterpillar Hauling Freight on the Lake in Spring to the Yukon," 1911-1913, Artist: Herbert Ponting), to clearing land on a Western Washington farm in Lewis County (Dorothea Lange, "Caterpillar Clearing Land on a Cut, Western Washington, Lewis County," 1939), the Caterpillar tractor revolutionized large-scale agriculture. In the Imperial Valley of California, this mechanical marvel transformed the landscape. Dorothea Lange captured the essence of this transformation through her photographs. In 1939, she documented the use of Caterpillar tractors in potato farming (Dorothea Lange, "Large-scale, Mechanized Farming - Potato Planter, Kern County, California"), as well as the labor force that made it all possible (Dorothea Lange, "Large-scale Agricultural Gang Labor, Mexicans and Others near Meloland, Imperial Valley"). The Caterpillar tractor's impact was not limited to potato farming alone. It was also used for carrot farming (Dorothea Lange, "Carrot Digger, Imperial Valley, California"), and its large scale and efficiency left a lasting impression on the agricultural industry. Even before the widespread use of Caterpillar tractors in agriculture, they had already made a significant impact. In 1911, Chief Stoker Lashly received the Albert Medal for his work on the HMS Terra Nova, which included the use of a Caterpillar tractor for hauling coal (Unknown, "Chief Stoker Lashly," 1911, Artist: Herbert Ponting). The Caterpillar tractor's story is one of innovation, progress, and the transformation of industries. From the frozen waters of the Yukon to the sunny fields of California, the Caterpillar tractor left an indelible mark on the agricultural landscape of the early 20th century.