DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it — and this one's a story worth hearing. Born on November 30, 1888, in Richford, Vermont, Robert Gilmour LeTourneau didn't come west with a diploma in his pocket or a family fortune behind him. He was a self-educated man.
And what he built with that mind of his would eventually move — quite literally — more earth than most people see in a lifetime. His first industrial plant went up in 1921, in Stockton, California. That was just the opening move.
LeTourneau invented and pioneered the use of components that are now standard in many types of construction equipment. Think about that the next time you watch a bulldozer push a hillside out of the way — somewhere in that machine, there's a little ghost of R. G.
LeTourneau. The LeTourneau Company grew into something that manufactured equipment for heavy construction, mining, logging, land clearing, and offshore oil drilling. Plants opened in California, Illinois, Georgia, Mississippi, and Texas.
The man wasn't building a company so much as he was reshaping the industry around it. Then came World War II, and here's where the story gets quiet for a second, because this matters. Seventy percent of the earth-moving equipment used by United States Armed Forces during that war was built by the LeTourneau Company.
Seventy percent. When armies needed to carve out airstrips and push roads through jungle and clear ground for bases on the far side of the world, they were doing it in large part with Robert LeTourneau's machines. Following the war, LeTourneau moved to Longview, Texas.
He opened an industrial plant there and founded LeTourneau Technical Institute — the institution that would become LeTourneau University. He became an influential business and civic leader in Longview, instrumental in much of the city's economic development. And it wasn't just industry that drove him.
Much of his personal time, his energy, and his fortune went into the LeTourneau Foundation and Charitable Ministries — a worldwide Christian missionary effort he founded in 1935. The man who could move mountains with machines was also out trying to move something harder to measure. He received many high honors over the course of his life, and when he passed on June 1, 1969, Longview remembered him as a highly-regarded citizen — which, given everything, may just be the most understated thing you could say about Robert Gilmour LeTourneau.
What the marker says
(November 30, 1888 - June 1, 1969) A native of Richford, Vermont, Robert G. LeTourneau built his first industrial plant in Stockton, California, in 1921. A self-educated man, he invented and pioneered the use of components now standard in many types of construction equipment. The LeTourneau Company, manufacturers of equipment for heavy construction, mining, logging, land clearing, and offshore oil drilling, eventually operated plants in California, Illinois, Georgia, Mississippi, and Texas. Much of LeTourneau's personal time, energy, and fortune were spent in promoting the LeTourneau Foundation and Charitable Ministries, a worldwide Christian missionary effort he founded in 1935. During World War II, seventy percent of the earth-moving equipment used by U. S. Armed Forces was built by the LeTourneau Company. Following the war, R. G. LeTourneau moved to Longview, where he opened an industrial plant and founded LeTourneau Technical Institute, the forerunner of LeTourneau University. LeTourneau became an influential business and civic leader in Longview, and was instrumental in much of the city's economic development. He was the recipient of many high honors, and is remembered as a highly-regarded citizen of Longview.