This weekend marks the last chance to see two exhibitions that peer into Stockton history — a showing of century-old photographs and another on the history of Caterpillar — before they are bulldozed into oblivion.
The Haggin Museum is celebrating the 100th anniversary of earth-moving giant Caterpillar with displays that tell the story of its founding as the Stockton Wheel Co. and later, Holt Manufacturing. And it has the photographs of Lora Webb Nichols, a photographer who documented the gritty world of frontier Wyoming and later settled in Stockton.
Both exhibitions are scheduled to end on Sunday.
Caterpillar traces its beginnings to a wheel maker, and later, farm equipment manufacturer situated at the corner of Church and Aurora streets. From making wooden wheels, the company branched out into harvesters and steam-driven engines by the 1890s. But under Benjamin Holt, its breakthrough came in the development of tracks, rather than wheels, for tractors in order to cope with muddy farm fields. With tracks, they wouldn’t get stuck.
The “caterpillar,” as the development was called, led to creation of battle tanks for the Army during World War I and the bulldozers of today.
As for the photography exhibit, Nichols began shooting professionally in 1906 after homesteading to Encampment, Wyoming. Working from a darkroom in her home, she either shot or collected 24,000 negatives documenting life in the mining town. The Haggin Museum says in a social post that “a distinctive element of her archive is its sensitive portrayal of women’s lives, depicting their labor, resilience, and sense of community in a rugged environment.”
Besides being a photographer, Nichols raised six kids and managed several businesses, eventually settling in Stockton.
“Her diaries and photographs together form a rich visual narrative that provides insight into the American West from a rarely seen female perspective,” the museum says.