The Remington Story- Part 1

I. Preface.

This interest article was prepared using resource materials printed in issues of the “Steam Engines”, a hobby magazine published in the period 1957 to 1961. The magazine was prepared and edited by Ray Campbell, Campbell Printing, Suisan, California. The magazine was focused on history of steam and the steam hobby, closely following the activities of the Western Steam Fiends.

The major contributors to the Remington story were F. Hal Higgins, a writer for the magazine and Gene Stroller, being with the Woodburn Independent at the time of his writing on this topic. Both individuals committed substantial time to research. For a variety of reasons, source documentation of the Remington story is sketchy. Gene Stroller found that very little had been written about Remington in the local press, with practically no recorded information available for the period of interest prior to 1892.

The article is being featured in anticipation of the “Antique Caterpillar Machinery Owners Club 15^th Anniversary” being held the first weekend of this year’s Steam-Up. Host for this event is our own Antique Caterpillar Machinery Museum. As a note, a special feature presentation of Caterpillars is planned in conjunction with the parade on the first day, Saturday, July 29.

Other personalities play significant roles in this storyline, one of particular importance being Daniel Best. Best’s role was to assist Remington in getting his invention into the marketplace. However we are getting a bit ahead of our background preamble!

Another personality of note is one Nathaniel Slate. Slate was yet another Oregonian whose inventions may possibly have contributed to the development of the Best version of the first steam traction engines. His name however was not referenced in the source materials used in the preparation of this article.

The Remington story is being featured because of the role of one Marquis de Lafayette Remington of Woodburn, Oregon in the eventual formation of Caterpillar and his contribution to the evolution of the tractor. Let’s began!

II. Getting Started!

Marquis de Lafayette Remington was born in the Mid-West. His family moved from Illinois to Oregon via California in 1859. There is little information on his youth. As a young man, Remington farmed in the Silverton area until 1870. In 1872, he moved to Woodburn and engaged in blacksmithing. In 1882, he started a foundry and a machine shop. Remington was a respected member of the Woodburn business community.

He was exceptionally capable mechanically as well as innovative. An acquired interest in building a steam engine designed for traction as well as stationary power led to the development of his Remington design. Remington was convinced of the need and the feasibility of such a machine. He applied for a patent which was awarded on January 31, 1888. It described in detail the original and innovative features of the Remington apparatus.

Relevant features described in the patent included: large drive wheels to prevent bogging down; placement of weight over the drive wheels for traction by suspending the boiler vertically between the wheels; a wide single front wheel that turned on a large diameter frame; two sets of gears to obtain different gear speeds; and, most remarkably, the introduction of differential gearing to assist turning.

The apparatus rolled “off the assembly line” and the locals stared! It was quite the sight, this ungainly contraption rumbling along the streets of Woodburn. And the whistle was quite different from any others heard in the area. On April 11, 1888 it was recorded that Mr. Remington conducted a test of his tractor using six 14 inch plows. It worked well!

At the time, he stated that his plan was to take the tractor to California for a test on a combined harvester and, if successful, the rights to build the traction engine likely would remain with some enterprising California firm. It is possible that he had a particular firm in mind!

Evidently what incited Remington to take his tractor to California was the “Bull Run experience”. During the construction of the first Bull Run water supply, Remington offered to haul pipe sections to the site in place of the use of horses. A team could haul only one pipe section at a time.

Remington was initially turned down by the engineers, being told that his machine likely could not haul itself up the mountain. He persisted and prevailed. In the end after repeatedly increasing the load, the Remington was hauling four wagons and a payload of 24 pipe sections per run.

Remington realized that his tractor had much more potential than he could realize with his small manufacturing operation in Woodburn, so off to California it was to conduct the test with a combined thresher.

III. The California Connection.

The test was carried out on a farm in the San Leandro area owned by a Daniel Best. At that time, Best was the owner of Daniel Best Agricultural Works. It is probable that Remington and Best were acquaintances, a consequence of Best having worked as a pattern maker at a firm that later was known as the Albany Iron Works before moving to California.

The story of Dan Best’s ventures in design and innovative development are undoubtedly “the stuff” of a separate story. However as a point of relevance to this story, it was the C.L. Best Gas Traction Co. (C.L. Best being Dan Best’s son) that merged with the Holt Manufacturing Co. of Stockton, California to form Caterpillar in 1925.

Returning to the Remington tale, it was at this time the Remington and Best made a deal by which Best was granted permission to use the Remington patent to manufacture and sell Remington tractors as Best products. In 1890, ads placed by Best began to appear in the Pacific Rural Press that used such verbiage as “Plowing and Harvesting by Steam a Success” and referred to “Remington Patents”.

Pictures of both Remington and Best were included in the ads. The ad further stated that “I am now manufacturing the celebrated Remington Traction Engine or Steam Plow”. As further proof of a deal, in an August issue of PRP, Remington wrote an open letter to Farm implements News, another farm publication, concerning a feud with a Jake Price, another steam tractor aspirant.

In the article, Remington wrote that “At this time, I sold to Mr. Best the right to manufacture these engines on the Pacific Coast and from that time forward, he has been turning them out to the full capacity of his establishment and selling them as fast as they were finished’.

Best tractors were headed to the marketplace frequently incorporating his innovative additions!