Even before being called to Federal service
in August of 1917, the California National Guard was training
with tracked armored vehicles.
The C.L.Best Tractor Company of San Leandro,
a agricultural tractor manufacturer and rival of Stockton's Holt
Caterpillar Company, built and demonstrated two prototype tanks
based on their Model 75 tractor in 1916
Undated photographs, show one of the tanks
training with an infantry unit of the California National Guard,
probably the 5th Infantry Regiment (after August 1917, the 159th
Infantry Regiment, 40th Division).
One tank was used for recruiting purposes
in San Francisco on 4 July 1917.
Two images of California
National Guard's 5th Infantry Regiment training with the CLB-75
tank somewhere in the rural rerions of the Bay Area, possibly
as a demonstration for the public or Army.
On recruiting duty
at San Francisco's Union Square, 4 July 1917. The St. Francis
Hotel is in the background.
