The original Caterpillar name actually predates the company it came to embody by two decades. Holt Mfg. Co. of Stockton, California used the name for its new model of crawler tractors back in 1906. The name itself was coined during a field test of Holt's new track-laying design on Thanksgiving Day, 1904. The company's photographer documenting the event observed that "it crawls just like a caterpillar". Standing nearby, Benjamin Holt heard the comment, liked the name and decided to use it. Local news media heralded its success:
"In a tract where a man could not walk without sinking to his knees and where tule-shod horses could not be used ... the new traction engine was operated without a perceptible impression in the ground. This tract of land has been useless for crop raising for several years becasue no way was found to plow it, but the platform wheel engine has brought the land into use again." - Farm Implement News - Spring 1905
When Holt and Best merged in 1925, they decided to use "Caterpillar" as their company name. The new company set up headquarters at Best's facility in San Leandro, with a merged product line of the popular Best Sixty & Best Thirty, and Holt's 2-ton, 5-ton, and 10-ton machines. Sales doubled in its first 3 years to $52 million. And the world's greatest heavy equipment manufacturer was born.
