Farmers traditionally

depended on animal power

to supplement human labor.

Horses, mules and oxen

allowed American farmers

to expand their tilled

acreage, providing

additional income for

commercial exchange.

With an expanding population and export potential, the advantages of fossil fuel power were not limited to factory and transportation sectors. The era following the Civil War provided ample opportunity to experiment with agricultural mechanization. In the nineteenth century

several varieties of

machinery were put to use

in the service of agriculture,

including Cyrus

McCormick’s reaper and its

descendants, and a plethora

of horse-propelled wagons,

seeders, mowers, rakes,

binders and balers. The

steam engine was the first

artificial power source to be

applied to agriculture.

Beginning in the 1850s,

inventors sought to adapt

steam power to farm needs,

with varying degrees of

success. By the 1880s

steam traction engines,

pulled to the field by horses,

were attached to long belts

that powered stationary

threshing machines,

separating grain from straw

and chaff. By the 1890s

these huge, heavy steam

machines could travel under

their own power, and some

were capable of pulling

plows. Their large size,

however, proved to be a

liability; they lacked

maneuverability, they

required sensitive

maintenance and their

Spring Focus ~ Machinery

Western region newsletter S P R I N G 2 0 1 1

S P E C I A L

P O I N T S O F

I N T E R E S T :

Meeting New

Friends at Fort

Nisqually

“Living

History” the

art of a

magazine

cover

Living

History Recipes

Annual Confer-

ence and Meet-

ing: Jackson’s

Mill

Newsletter

Submission

Guidelines

Mechanized

Agriculture: Power

for the Farm

Steve Iverson

When the new millennium began eleven years ago, many of us in the museum field recognized, somewhat suddenly in some cases, that the twentieth century was now history. The last century’s technological innovations for factories, farms, transportation and communication were increasingly appropriate for interpretation at historic sites. The growing prominence of, and dependence on, farm machinery completely changed the history of food production, family life and rural social organization. Understanding the context of twentieth century farm development is a broad topic, but one way to begin is to look at the history of the power sources employed in the fields.

P A G E 2

The Rumely

OilPull, intro-

duced in 1910,

used kerosene for

fuel and oil – run

through a cooling

tower in front –

for cooling. Ru-

mely’s popular

model 16/30, pro-

duced from 1918-

1924, rated 30.1

horsepower on

the drawbar and

46 on the belt in

the 1920 Ne-

braska Tractor

Test.

weight compacted the soil.

Nevertheless, as stationary

machines they continued to

provide important power for

threshing crews even through

the 1920s.

As the twentieth century

dawned, American, Canadian

and European inventors

sought to create reliable,

lighter weight power sources

for farm use. The internal

combustion engine provided

the breakthrough. It was

incorporated into what came

to be called “tractors” –

machines designed to provide

mobile or stationary power –

with various configurations of

wheels and weight

distribution. The experimental

and competitive energies of

manufacturers led to the

opening of dozens of factories

to make machines for

agriculture.

From 1900 to 1920, many

early tractors were

underpowered, lacked

reliability and broke down

frequently. Traveling

salesmen sold inadequate

machines to unsuspecting

farmers, creating a demand

for some form of quality

testing. In 1920 the Nebraska

Tractor Tests began

evaluating the products of

many manufacturers and

publicizing the results,

providing prospective

purchasers with uniform

information by which to make

informed choices. The most

common ratings during the

era were for horsepower on

the drawbar – indicating

pulling power – and on the

belt wheel, which later

included the power take-off.

Those horsepower ratings

were expressed as a pair of

numbers: for example, 10-20

or 30/60. The system had

been used earlier on steam

engines, but the tractor tests

provided a more reliable

indicator of power.

Recognizing the limitations of

steam traction engines,

inventors and farm

equipment makers worked to

advance tractor design. Early

experimenters tried various

fuels: the Rumely OilPull

tractor, produced in LaPorte,

Indiana, from 1910 through

the mid-1920s, ran

successfully on kerosene. Like

many other makers of

tractors, this company had

produced steam traction

engines. Another steam

producer, the J.I. Case

Threshing Machine Company

of Racine, Wisconsin,

introduced its own line of

gasoline-powered machines.

Most steam engine

manufacturers did not

survive the Twenties; others

did so only after merging

with other farm equipment

companies. Examples of the

latter include Avery,

Advance, Aultman-Taylor

and Garr-Scott.

In 1918 Henry Ford entered

the tractor market with his

Fordson tractor, powered

by a Model T motor. Ford’s

mass production achieved

cut costs significantly, and

in the tractor wars that

followed the Fordson soon

outsold all other brands

combined. Many

manufacturers went out of

business, but the survivors

created better models in

response.

Most tractor manufacturers

were headquartered in the

upper Midwest, but the

productivity of California’s

San Joaquin Valley also

stimulated innovative

designs. One example is the

Samson company of

Stockton, whose Samson

Sieve-Grip Tractor

(originally rated 6-12, and

later 12-25) proved quite

popular. The Samson was a

gear-driven, gasoline, three-

wheeled tractor with open

steel wheels. In 1918

General Motors, in an

attempt to compete with

Fordson, purchased Samson

and moved the factory to

Wisconsin. By 1923 they

had given up the project.

W E S T E R N R E G I O N N E W S L E T T E R

W E S T E R N R E G I O N N E W S L E T T E R P A G E 3

By the 1920s tractors with gasoline-

fueled internal combustion engines

had captured most of the market,

though a few kerosene models

maintained a small share. Not until

the 1930s was a reliable diesel-fuel

engine perfected by Caterpillar.

Tractors of the late teens through

thirties were often built around a

four-wheel configuration with wide

front stance, and sat on steel wheels

with lugs for traction. The sales-

leading Fordson was such a design.

Other makers came up with new

concepts that enhanced productivity

and enticed farmers to replace their

draft animals with tractors.

International Harvester’s 1921 Model

15-30, for example, was built on a

sturdy framework that permitted a

power take-off (PTO) to be mounted

on the rear. The PTO provided power

to attached equipment such as

mowers, binders and side rakes. By

1928 John Deere’s Model D included

an independent PTO, which could be

shut off when the operator desired.

Then Allis-Chalmers’ 1932 Model U

was the first tractor mounted on

pneumatic tires, providing both

comfort and traction.

The conventional tractor with its wide front wheels was particularly good for plowing, discing and sowing fields, but somewhat clumsy to maneuver through row crops. International Harvester’s 1924 design for a tricycle tractor, dubbed a general purpose machine, made cultivating easier. High clearance and a narrow nose, aided by the typical independent brakes for each of the drive wheels, gave it maneuverability between rows, knocking down weeds while sparing the crop. Other companies followed with general purpose tricycle models, which became an industry standard through the 1950s.

Three pivotal tractors: International

Harvester (also produced as McCor-

mick-Deering) 15-30 pioneered the

power take-off; the John Deere

model D had an independent shut-

off PTO; the Allis-Chalmers model

U, introduced in 1929, was the first

production tractor offered with

pneumatic rubber tires.

Despite all the improvements, early farm tractors won no beauty prizes. Then in 1935 Oliver Hart-Parr introduced its model 70 Row Crop tractor with a sleek, appealing sheet-steel body. Almost immediately, International Harvester hired industrial designer Raymond Loewy to add style to its machines, and the John Deere Company hired Henry Dreyfuss to upgrade the appearance of models A, B, D, G and H. Both designers were men of international reputation. By providing a clean new look, the old steering column and radiator grill were hidden and the rear end and driver’s seat area became less machine-like.

One other tractor configuration was

especially important in the early

twentieth century. In areas where

soft soils were unable to support

heavy tractors, crawlers – tractors

with treads – offered a solution. Two

California farm equipment

manufacturers pioneered the use of

crawlers. C.L. Best and Benjamin

Holt were rivals in the field from

1908 until their two companies

merged in 1925. Holt’s name for the

gasoline-driven crawlers was

Caterpillar, and it is the name that

stuck. These machines became the

basis for military tanks during World

War I, and when Caterpillar

introduced diesel fuel in 1931, it set a

precedent for the standard farm fuel

of today.

Right: The 1935 styling of

the Oliver Row Crop 70

introduced aesthetics to

tractor design.

Seed Catalogs

P A G E 4 W E S T E R N R E G I O N

It is gratifying to know that

some things never change, or

only change slightly. The

subject in question being the

winter seed catalog which

before the advent of the inter-

net was something that was

waited for with great antici-

pation by our agricultural

minded fore fathers. Although

the seed companies have a

major presence on the World

Wide Web, they still mail out

their catalogs to whoever

wants them, and in some

cases to those that don’t want

them. Whatever the case, the

arrival of the winter seed

catalog still stirs the latent

gardener in this curator.

As handy as the internet is,

there is something about be-

ing able to look through a

catalog that is extremely satis-

fying. Now, of course, you

can’t beat ordering on line and

getting your seeds within a

few days, but drilling down

through several levels on line

to find what you are looking

for just doesn’t feel as good as

flipping pages and being able

to compare varieties on the

printed page.

Hopefully this is what brings

visitors to our museums and

historic sites, the lure of the

physical object. Virtual reality

is interesting, but most of us

are tactile individuals with a

desire to feel and touch and

see the real

thing. A pic-

ture of a

steam trac-

tion engine

is nice, but

can’t com-

pare with

the artifact

itself, espe-

cially if it is

fired up,

dripping

water and exuding steam.

What our sites and museums

do is provide the third dimen-

sion to the light produce im-

ages on the internet. We have

what can never be replicated

electronically, the presence of

the real.

As handy as the

internet is, there is

something about

being able to look

through a catalog

that is still extremely

satisfying.

Western Region on

Facebook!

The Presence of the Real:

Artifacts and Interpretation

P A G E 5 W E S T E R N

Save the Date

“Prescott: Where It All Be-

gan” will be the host city

for the 2011 ALHFAM

Western

Region meeting. The host

site is Sharlot Hall Mu-

seum. The dates: Septem-

ber 8, 9 and 10.

The program is still in the

works, but one thing can be

counted on, you will

experience “The Arizona

History Adventure” on Sat-

urday the 10th. The Ari-

zona History

Adventure is the Museum’s

sixteen year old living his-

tory program that features

both

first person and third per-

son interpretation. For

more information on the

Museum go to:

www.sharlot.org.

More on this as it develops,

but put these dates on your

calendar and make plans to

be in Prescott, Arizona for

this year’s regional meet-

ing.

Announcing: Western Regional Meeting

Join us on facebook! And

help keep us connected

with living history, current

research and more via the

discussion on the page.

http://groups.to/

alhfamwesternregion/

P A G E 6 W E S T E R N R E G I O N N E W S L E T T E R

Stamp Mill at

Bodie State

Historic Park

Stamp Mill at Bodie State Historic Park

Visitors to California’s Bodie State Historic Park east of the Sierra Nevada are familiar with “panning” for gold, or placer mining, but often do not realize most miners in Bodie worked as “hardrock” miners, going underground to blast out quartz rock containing gold and silver. To process the rock, a “stamp mill” was required. Bodie’s peak population was between 8,000 and 10,000 and the town boasted close to 2,000 buildings during the boom years, 1877 to 1881. Bodie’s rapid growth began after a mine collapse revealed a rich ledge of gold ore, attracting the interest of investors in San Francisco and New York. In July 1877, the new Standard Mining Company built a stamp mill for crushing quartz rock and extracting the gold and silver. The Standard seemed destined for success, having bought the mine that started the excitement in Bodie. The company’s innovations would keep it alive into the next century. The Standard’s first innovation was in December 1877, with construction of an aerial cable with iron buckets to transport 45 tons of ore in eight hours from the mine 2500 feet above. The patent on the heavy woven cable was held by a fellow named Andrew Hallide. Most remember him for a more famous project - the San Francisco Cable Car System. At the mill, ore was sorted over grates called “grizzlies.” If you imagine a cattle guard tilted on one of its ends, this gives an idea of a grizzly’s appearance. Ore too large to go through the grizzlies rolled off onto a breaker floor where the ore was reduced further, with a “jaw crusher”, so named for its similarity in function to a human jaw. Then, properly sized-ore was ready for the mortar boxes, which contained the stamps. The Standard’s mortar boxes, solid pieces of cast iron, weighed about 3 tons. At this point, water was introduced, allowing the material to flow between the moving stamps and the die in the bottom of the box. Each box contained five iron stamps, weighing about 1,000 pounds each, going up and down 90 times a minute. The Standard was a 20-stamp mill, so four boxes stood side by side with slanted tables extending from the front opening.

Before the crushed ore left the boxes, it passed through a metal screen to ensure the muddy mixture was 40 mesh -- finer than most screen doors. The slurry continued downward over copper plates coated with mercury or “quicksilver.” Gold and silver, with their affinity for mercury, were held behind. The “amalgam,” was scraped up and taken to a retort furnace and heated to 700 degrees. This vaporized the mercury, which was recovered and cooled for re-use. The gold and silver went to the smelter for melting at 2,000 degrees and pouring into molds. Finally, the bars, a gold and silver mix called “bullion,” were shipped to the U.S. Mint for the final separation of the gold from the silver. As Bodie’s boom ended in 1881, the Standard would stay afloat, just barely. After lack of ore essentially shut down the mill for five years, a new manager, Arthur Macy, a graduate of Columbia School of Mines in New York City, got the company back on track in 1890. Macy did away with Hallide’s aerial cable system, choosing now to transport ore to the mill from a nearby horizontal shaft. He also ordered new treatment equipment, including concentrators, which shook material exiting the amalgamation process in order to separate heavier material from lighter waste. It was known that the amalgamation process only recovered 60-65 percent of the metals. His improvements resulted in lower milling costs and better yields of gold and silver. Macy’s successor, fellow Columbia alumni Thomas Leggett, chose to electrify the mill.

Bodie’s biggest expense was wood to fuel the boilers of the steam engines at the mines and mills. At the Standard, $22,000 worth of wood was required annually. Wood was transported to town at great expense as no trees grew nearby. After consulting with the Westinghouse Company, Leggett chose an alternating current system. His decision was dictated by the distance the power had to travel from the hydroelectric plant nearly 13 miles away at Green Creek in the Sierra Nevada. Leggett’s project was fraught with setbacks. It was hoped the electricity would be running the mill by December 1, 1892. Hopes were so high that the Standard ordered a minimum amount of wood as winter arrived. As months rolled on, one newspaper writer termed the project “Leggett’s Folly.” Finally, on July 15, 1893, Leggett invited a few people in town to witness the electrical start-up, including James S. Cain, who had lived in Bodie since 1879. Cain worked in banking, mining and lumber, a lucrative business in Bodie. The $38,000 electrical installation was a success, but a boiler and steam engine remained for back-up. About two years later, Leggett completed installation of an electric hoist and a lighting system for the Standard Mine. He wasn’t done yet. The new buzz in mining circles was use of cyanide to dissolve gold and silver. It was said this process could recover almost 100 percent of gold and silver from the crushed ore. By late 1894, the Standard had built a cyanide treatment plant.

On October 4, 1898, an accidental fire burned down the mill. New construction began immediately, and in just four months, a second Standard Mill, with galvanized metal siding, sparkled in the sunlight. A new assistant manager, Stanford University graduate Theodore J. Hoover, arrived in June 1903. Hoover was charged with the task of recovering gold and silver from thousands of tons of tailings (crushed material) below the mill. These tailings, called “slimes,” for their excessive clay content, did not respond well to current cyanide processes. After much study and experimentation, Hoover renovated the cyanide plant and brought in a “tube mill” for fine grinding of tailings before treatment. Hoover claimed the tube mill was the only one outside of South Africa at the time. In 1904, Hoover became manger and continued with improvements. By the end of 1905, the company paid dividends to its happy shareholders. Hoover actually had some leisure time and hosted his sister-in-law and famous mining engineer brother, who would later become United States President Herbert Hoover.

After Hoover’s departure, the company continued through the first decade of the 1900s, but mines were clearly playing out. The Standard ceased operations in 1913 and completely dissolved in 1915 after James Cain, witness to the electrical start-up, successfully sued the Standard for taking ore out of his nearby Midnight Mine. Cain acquired the mill and all the mining properties and began operating them on a lease basis. In 1935, the Standard Mill saw the last ore pass through its now 10 stamp mill. Today, park visitors can see the stamp mill on guided tours and marvel at the mining equipment

and techniques that resulted in the Standard producing $18 million in gold and silver – almost half of the district’s recorded total of nearly $34 million. These figures reflect historic gold and silver prices of $20 an ounce for gold and about $1 an ounce for silver. The stamp mill and the 200 buildings in Bodie remaining owe their existence to James S. Cain and his descendents, who hired a series of caretakers to protect the town until it became a California State Park in 1962. Bibliography: Piatt, Michael H. The Mines Are Looking Well, The History of the Bodie Mining District. El Sobrante, CA: North Bay Books 2003. Johnson, Russ and Anne. The Ghost Town of Bodie: As Reported in the Newspapers of the Day. Bishop, CA: Chalfant Press, 1967. Billeb, Emil. Mining Camp Days. Berkeley, CA, Howell North Books, 1968 Hoover, Theodore J. Memoranda: Being a Statement by an Engineer. Hoover Institute, Stanford University, 1939 Leggett, Thomas Haight. Electric Power Transmission Plants and the Use of Electricity in Mining Operations. 12th Annual Report, Office of the State Mineralogist, 1894

P A G E 9

Growing

Living

History: In

Good Times

and Bad

ALHFAM National Meeting and Conference

In today’s tumultuous times, historians and museum professionals continually face the challenge of finding innovative ways to keep the past alive. Visiting new places, ex-periencing new opportu-

nities, and sharing our in-dividual successes and failures are valuable parts of that process.

We’re pleased to welcome the Association for Living History, Farm and Agricul-

tural Mu-seums to West Vir-ginia for its annual meeting

June 4-8, 2011. The Farmstead at WVU

Jackson’s Mill has a very rich history as an 18th and 19th century rural economic hub, the boyhood home of Confederate General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, and the first state 4-H camp in the nation. 2011 marks 90 years of operation by the Extension Service of West Virginia University.

W E S T E R N R E G I O N N E W S L E T T E R