Clarence Leo Best (April 21, 1878 – September 22, 1951), better known as C. L. Best, was an American manufacturing executive. C. L. Best founded the C. L. Best Gas Traction Company in 1910 (later the C. L. Best Tractor Company) then merged his company with

Holt Manufacturing Company 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 ("caterpillar") tractor design, incorporated ...

to form Caterpillar Tractor Company in 1925. C. L. Best was

chairman of the board The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a Board of directors, board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by ...

of Caterpillar Tractor Company from its founding until his death in 1951.

Biography

Best was born in

Albany, Oregon Albany ( ) is the county seat of Linn County, Oregon, and is the 11th most populous city in the state. Albany is located in the Willamette Valley at the confluence of the Calapooia River and the Willamette River in both Linn and Benton count ...

. He started out working for Best Manufacturing Company, owned by his father, Daniel Best, and eventually became manager of Best Manufacturing Company's

Stockton, California Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. It is the most populous city in the county, the List of municipal ...

plant. Best Manufacturing Company was acquired by

in 1908. In 1910, Best left Holt Manufacturing Company and formed his own company, C. L. Best Gas Traction Company, to continue his father's work. Originally operating out of a plant in Elmhurst, California, the C. L. Best Traction Company became large enough to purchase Daniel Best's former

San Leandro, California San Leandro (Spanish language, Spanish for "Leander of Seville, St. Leander") is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area; between Oakland, California, Oakland to the northwe ...

plant in mid-1916. In 1920, the C. L. Best Traction Company was restructured and renamed the C. L. Best Tractor Company. The most successful tractor produced was the C. L. Best 60 Tracklayer, later produced as the Caterpillar Sixty. In the mid-1920s, Holt encountered financial trouble. Best's financial backers approached Holt executives to discuss a merger. On April 15, 1925, C. L. Best Tractor Company and Holt Manufacturing Company merged to form Caterpillar Tractor Company (later

Caterpillar Inc. Caterpillar Inc., also known as Cat, is an American construction, mining and other engineering equipment manufacturer. The company is the world's largest manufacturer of construction equipment. In 2018, Caterpillar was ranked number 73 on the ' ...

). Best remained

of Caterpillar until his death in 1951. He was interred at Evergreen Cemetery in Oakland, California.

References

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Best, C. L. 1878 births 1951 deaths Burials at Evergreen Cemetery (Oakland, California) Businesspeople from California Caterpillar Inc. people People from Stockton, California San Leandro, California