View source for R. G. LeTourneau

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{{Short description|American inventor and businessman (1888–1969)}}
{{about|the businessman|the heavy equipment company|LeTourneau Technologies}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Robert Gilmour LeTourneau
| birth_date    = {{birth date|1888|11|30}}
| birth_place   = [[Richford, Vermont]], U.S.
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1969|6|1|1888|11|30}}
| death_place   = [[Longview, Texas]], U.S.
| resting_place =
| occupation    = {{hlist|[[Business magnate]]|[[inventor]]|[[philanthropist]]}}
| known_for     = Inventing earthmoving, other heavy machinery technology
| spouse        = {{marriage|Evelyn Peterson|1917}}
| children      = 5
| alma_mater    =
| networth      = 
}}

'''Robert Gilmour "R. G." LeTourneau''' ({{IPAc-en|l|ə|t|'|ər|n|oʊ}}; November 30, 1888 – June 1, 1969), born in [[Richford, Vermont]], was a prolific inventor of technologies related to earthmoving machinery, and founder of [[LeTourneau Technologies]] and [[LeTourneau University]].<ref name = DurhamHandBookofTX/> His factories supplied machinery which represented nearly 75 percent of the earthmoving equipment used by the [[Allies of World War II|Allied forces]] during [[World War II]], and more than half of the {{convert|1,500|mi|km|0|adj=on}} [[Alaska Highway]] in Canada, "Alcan", was built using LeTourneau equipment.<ref name = ProfKarwatka/><!--THIS CORRECTED PROSE AND THESE CORRECTED NUMBERS ARE WHAT KARWATKA STATES.--> Over the course of his life he secured 299 [[patent]]s,<ref name = ProfKarwatka/> relating to earthmoving equipment, manufacturing processes, and machine tools.{{citation needed lead|date=September 2022}}

LeTourneau sold most company assets in 1953 for US$ 31M,<ref name = ProfKarwatka/> but reentered the heavy equipment field as LeTourneau Technologies,{{verification needed|date = July 2024}}<!--SEE BELOW REGARDING DISCREPANCY.--> the oversight of which was left to his son, Richard LeTourneau, on his retirement in 1966.<ref name=FarmCollector>{{Cite web |url=https://www.farmcollector.com/tractors/tractors-company-history/letourneau-zmlz16mayzhur/ |title=R.G. LeTourneau: The Man Who Moved the Earth |first=Sam |last=Moore |date=12 April 2016 |website=Farm Collector |accessdate=9 May 2025}}</ref> Its manufacturing and offshore drilling assets were sold in 1970 to Marathon Manufacturing Co., to become Marathon LeTourneau Co.{{fact|date=September 2022}} (the assets of which became and remain divided between various manufacturing and rig-technology companies).<ref name=AP_RowanGenCableMarLeTourneau/><ref name=FurrHousBJ2015_CameronSale/>

In his later life and retirement, the elder LeTourneau was involved in philanthropic pursuits, many related to his [[Christian faith]].

==Early life and education==
{{expand section|with = a broader source-derived set of facts regarding his early life and education|small = no | date - July 2024|date=July 2024}}

Robert Gilmour LeTourneau, known as "R.G." to friends, was born on November 30, 1888,<ref name = DurhamHandBookofTX>
{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Durham |first1=Ken |date = January 10, 2001 |orig-date = 1976 | editor-last=Buenger |editor-first= Walter L.  |encyclopedia= [[Handbook of Texas]] online [tshaonline.org/handbook] |title= LeTourneau, Robert Gilmour (1888–1969) |url= https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/letourneau-robert-gilmour |access-date= 11 July 2024 |language=en |location= Austin, TX |publisher= [[Texas State Historical Association]] | id= |isbn= |issn= |oclc= |doi= |pages= |archive-url= |archive-date= |url-status= |quote= }}</ref> to a farming family living in [[Richford, Vermont]].<ref name = ProfKarwatka>{{cite journal|last1=Karwatka|first1=Dennis|title=Technology's Past: R. G. LeTourneau and His Massive Earth-Moving Equipment|journal=Tech Directions|date=2006|volume=65|issue=10|page=8 | url= https://archive.org/details/sim_tech-directions_2006-05_65_10/page/8/mode/2up?view=theater | access-date= 9 July 2024 | url-access = registration}}</ref> He moved with them to [[Duluth, Minnesota]], and then to [[Portland, Oregon]], where he attended school through high school, [[dropping out]] at the age of 14 to take on an [[apprentice]]ship as an [[ironworker]], at the East Portland Iron Works.<ref name = ProfKarwatka/>

There he learned the [[foundry]] and [[machinist]] trades,{{fact|date = July 2024}} and, at the same time, did correspondence study of the "basics of mechanical engineering",<ref name = ProfKarwatka/> although he never completed any course assignments in those International Correspondence Schools courses.{{fact|date = July 2024}} LeTourneau then began his working life in a variety of jobs that taught him "valuable technical skills".<ref name = ProfKarwatka/>

==Career==
{{essay-like|section|date = July 2024}}

===Early career===
{{refimprove section|date = July 2024}}

LeTourneau eventually moved to [[San Francisco]], where he worked at the Moore and Scott Iron Works at the personal invitation of the owner.{{fact|date = July 2024}} After the San Francisco earthquake and fire, work was hard to come by.{{fact|date = July 2024}} As described in a 2007 LaTourneau company biography (after his passing, when the company was under ownership by Rowan Companies), before 1909<blockquote>he was employed at the Yerba Buena Power Plant and learned [[welding]] skills and became familiar with the application of electricity.  In 1909, he moved to Stockton, California.  During this time, LeTourneau worked at a number of jobs including wood cutter, farm hand, miner and carpenter's laborer, acquiring a sound knowledge of the manual trades that would prove invaluable in later life.<ref name = LeTourneauTechnolInc_2007bio>{{cite web | author = LeTourneau Inc. Staff | date = 2007 | title = R. G. LeTourneau (1888-1969) | work = LeTourneau-Inc.com/about | location = Longview, TX | publisher = LeTourneau Technologies, Inc. | url = http://www.letourneau-inc.com/about/RG_bio.htm | access-date = 12 July 2024 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070212051449/http://www.letourneau-inc.com/about/RG_bio.htm | archive-date = 12 February 2007 | quote = LeTourneau Technologies, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rowan Companies, Inc.}}{{third party inline|date = July 2024}}</ref>{{third party inline|date = July 2024}}</blockquote>

In 1909 he took an automobile correspondence course granting himself a "Bachelor of Motorcycles" as he learned about [[vehicle]] [[mechanics]] and graduated by taking apart and putting back together his newly acquired motorcycle in a day.{{fact|date = July 2024}} After working on a project to build a bridge across the Stanislaus River, and seeing first hand the [[Fresno scraper]], he was anxious to put to use his mechanical skills.{{fact|date = July 2024}} 

As described in the 2007 company biography, "[i]n 1911, LeTourneau was employed at the Superior Garage in Stockton, California, where he learned about vehicle mechanics and later became half-owner of the business."<ref name = LeTourneauTechnolInc_2007bio/>{{third party inline|date = July 2024}} His stake was $1,000,{{fact|date = July 2024}} and the building may have been the first in that section of California designed exclusively for the sales and servicing of cars.{{fact|date = July 2024}}

LeTourneau was further described in the 2007 company biography:<blockquote>Refused military service because of permanent neck injuries sustained in a car racing accident, LeTourneau worked during [[World War I]] as a maintenance assistant at the [[Mare Island Naval Shipyard|Mare Island Navy Yard]] in California, where he was trained as an electrical machinist and improved his welding skills. After the war, LeTourneau returned to Stockton and discovered the Superior Garage business had failed.  In order to repay his portion of the debts, he took a job repairing a [[Holt Manufacturing Company|Holt]] crawler tractor, and was then employed by the tractor owner to level {{convert|40|acre|m2|disp=sqbr}} using the tractor and a towed scraper.<ref name = LeTourneauTechnolInc_2007bio/>{{third party inline|date = July 2024}}<!--NOTE, the originally appearing Orlemann 2001 LeTourneau Earthmovers book was NOT the source of this quoted content. It is, however, a useful citation, and so was moved to further reading.--></blockquote>

===Move into manufacturing===
{{third party|section|date = July 2024}}

As also described in the company biography:<blockquote>This type of work appealed to LeTourneau and in January of 1920, he purchased a used [[Holt Manufacturing Company|Holt]] tractor and, with a hired scraper, commenced business as a [[regrading|land leveling]] contractor.  In May of 1921, he purchased a plot of land in Stockton, California, and established a small engineering workshop, where he designed and built several types of scrapers.  Combining contracting and [[earthmoving equipment]] manufacturing, his business soon began to expand and, in 1929, ...were incorporated in California as R. G. LeTourneau, Inc.<ref name = LeTourneauTechnolInc_2007bio/>{{third party inline|date = July 2024}}</blockquote>

Continuing, the biography states,<blockquote>Letourneau completed many earthmoving projects during the 1920's and early 1930's, including the [[Boulder Highway]] to [[Hoover Dam]] in [[Nevada]], the Marysville Levees, [[Orange County, California|Orange County]] Dam and the Newhall Cut-off in California. In 1933, LeTourneau retired from contracting to devote his attention to the manufacturing of earthmoving equipment. In 1935, he built a manufacturing plant in [[Peoria, Illinois]], and the continued expansion of his business saw the establishment of manufacturing plants in [[Toccoa, Georgia]] in 1938; [[Rydalmere, New South Wales|Rydalmere, Australia]] in 1941; [[Vicksburg, Mississippi]] in 1942, and [[Longview, Texas]] in 1945.<ref name = LeTourneauTechnolInc_2007bio/>{{third party inline|date = July 2024}}</blockquote>

===Later career===
In 1953, LeTourneau sold his entire earth-moving equipment line—including plants, land, machinery, and inventory—to the [[Westinghouse Air Brake Company]] for US$ 31 million.<ref name = ProfKarwatka/><ref>{{cite news | author = NYT Staff | date = 1953-05-12 | title = Westinghouse Gets Loan; Company Borrows $30,000,000 to Buy LeTourneau Works | work = [[The New York Times]] | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1953/05/12/archives/westinghouse-gets-loan-company-borrows-30000000-to-buy-letourneau.html | access-date=9 July 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine | author = Time Staff | date = May 25, 1953 | title = Corporations: Repeat Performance | magazine=Time | volume=61 | issue=21 | page=94 | url= https://time.com/archive/6825652/corporations-repeat-performance/ |access-date= 9 July 2024}}</ref> In 1958, at the age of seventy, LeTourneau re-entered the earthmoving equipment manufacturing business, offering contractors a range of high capacity earthmoving, transportation, and material handling machines.{{fact|date = July 2024}} These were based on his recently developed electric wheel drive ([[wheel hub motor]]).{{fact|date = July 2024}}

In 1966, at age 77, LeTourneau handed over leadership of the work and assets of the remaining company, LeTourneau Technologies,{{what|date = July 2024}} to his son, Richard LeTourneau.<ref name=FarmCollector/> After 1966, LeTourneau continued to work each day and could be found at the drawing board in his modest office, designing new ways to move larger loads faster and more economically.{{fact|date = July 2024}}

LeTourneau Technologies was sold to Marathon Manufacturing Company in 1972, becoming Marathon LeTourneau Company,{{fact|date = July 2024}}<!--The [[LeTourneau Technologies]] article states:  "In 1970, just after the death of the founder, the company[clarification needed] was sold to Marathon Manufacturing Company and was renamed Marathon LeTourneau Company.[citation needed]" THIS DISCREPANCY—WHAT WAS SOLD IN 1953 VS 1970—NEEDS TO BE RESOLVED. IT APPEARS EARTHMOVING WAS LARGELY SOLD TO WESTINGHOUSE, AND NEWER ELECTRIC WHEEL DRIVE AND OIL RIG ASSETS TO MARATHON.--> which was in turn acquired by Rowan in 1986, and Joy Global in 2011,<ref name = AnonBlog>{{cite web | date = c. 2011 | title=LeTourneau L-2350 Loader |work="Engineering Channel" [engineers-channel.blogspot.com] | format = anonymous blog post | url=https://engineers-channel.blogspot.com/p/letourneau-l-2350-loader.html | access-date=9 July 2024 | quote = The P&H L-2350 Wheel Loader (formerly the L-2350 loader)... is manufactured by Komatsu Limited... [and] was originally manufactured by LeTourneau Inc. LeTourneau Inc. was acquired by Marathon in 1972, Rowan Companies in 1986, and Joy Global in 2011.}}{{better source|date = July 2024}}</ref>{{better source|date = July 2024}} the last of which was acquired by and renamed to Komatsu Mining Corp.{{fact|date = July 2024}}{{verification needed| date = July 2024}} That company's assets—electric wheel and oil rig technologies—<!--SEE ABOVE NOTE ABOUT DISCREPANCY.-->became and remain divided between various manufacturing and rig-technology companies.<ref name = AnonBlog/>{{better source|date = July 2024}}<ref name=AP_RowanGenCableMarLeTourneau>{{cite web | author = AP Staff | date = November 10, 1993 | title = Rowan Buys Marathon LeTourneau From General Cable | work = [[APNews.com]] | url = https://www.apnews.com/dbaed5efbaff07b6b3dce3ff403fefa9 | url-status = dead | archive-url = 
https://web.archive.org/web/20190801225104/https://www.apnews.com/dbaed5efbaff07b6b3dce3ff403fefa9 | archive-date = 1 August 2019 | access-date = 9 July 2024}}</ref><ref name=FurrHousBJ2015_CameronSale>{{cite news | author=Furr, Laura | date = August 31, 2015 | title = Cameron Sells Offshore Rig Business | work=[[American City Business Journals|Houston Business Journal]] | url=https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2015/08/31/cameron-sells-offshore-rig-business.html | access-date = 9 July 2024}}</ref>

==Contributions==
R. G. LeTourneau was largely responsible for the invention and development of many types of earthmoving machines manufactured by his company and now widely used. He is credited with:
* introduction of [[Wheel tractor-scraper|land scraper]] equipment with a single person-operated power control unit, allowing it, in combination, to load, haul, dump, and spread earth;<ref name = ProfKarwatka/>
* replacing earlier-used "wide steel wheels" that "cut into sandy soil", with large rubber truck tires,<ref name = ProfKarwatka/><ref name = LeTourneauAutobio>{{cite book | author = LeTourneau, R.G. | date = 1967 | orig-date = 1960 | title = Mover of Men and Mountains | format = autobiography | location = Hoboken, NJ | publisher = Prentice-Hall | isbn =  978-0-8024-3818-8| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=phv6hdWwXU0C | access-date = 9 July 2024 }} Reprinted by [https://books.google.com/books?id=hrLSh6gosvoC Moody Press], {{ISBN|0802438180}}.</ref>{{rp|191,197}} and the development of low-pressure, heavy-duty rubber tires;<ref name=FarmCollector/>
* placing diesel-generator powered electric motors (akin to diesel-electric locomotives) on each driving wheel of his scrapers;<ref name = ProfKarwatka/>
* developing the two-wheeled "Tournapull" tractor unit,<ref name=FarmCollector/><ref name = LeTourneauAutobio/>{{rp|215f}} and numerous other improvements relating to scrapers;<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Haddock|first1=Keith|title=Development of LeTourneau scrapers: 1922-1953|journal=Equipment Echoes|date=2014|volume=113|page=27|url= |access-date= }}</ref><!--Again, EBSCO search results are not valid web citations here.-->
* as well as the concepts related to and used in mobile offshore drilling platforms.{{fact|date=September 2022}}

===Outside of business===
[[Image:Rg-machines-eliotlandrum.jpg|thumb|right|Several of R.G.'s original machines are on display on the LeTourneau University campus.]]

With the help of his wife, the late Evelyn Peterson (1900-1987), he founded [[LeTourneau University]], a private, [[Christianity|Christian]] institution, in [[Longview, Texas|Longview]], [[Texas]]. LeTourneau was widely known as a devout [[Christians|Christian]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.letu.edu/library/exhibit/panel-faith.html | title=R.G.'s Faith (Panel) }}</ref> and generous [[philanthropist]] to Christian causes, including the "LeTourneau Christian Center" camp and conference grounds in Rushville, New York,<ref>[http://www.letourneau.org LeTourneau Christian Conference Center]</ref> and Georgia Baptist Conference Center in Toccoa, Georgia.<ref>{{cite web|title=Georgia Baptist Conference Center, Toccoa - History|url=http://mytoccoa.com/history/|access-date=20 May 2016}}</ref>

==Personal pursuits==
{{refimprove|section|date = July 2024}}
[[File:Letourneau signature.png|thumb|Signature of R. G. Letourneau, citing Matthew 6:33, a Bible verse that was foundational to his life]]

As described in his 2007 company biography, "[i]n 1917, [R.G.] married Evelyn Peterson, the daughter of a [[Wagon|draying]] company owner from Minnesota."<ref name = LeTourneauTechnolInc_2007bio/>{{third party inline|date = July 2024}}

In 1965, International Correspondence Schools awarded LeTourneau his diploma in engineering, 50 years after he studied from their course materials. LeTourneau was 76 at the time and, in accepting the diploma, jovially remarked to executive assistant, Nels Stjernstrom: "So now I've got a diploma. Now I'm educated."<ref name = StjernstromLetourneauUnivDoc>{{cite document |last=Stjernstrom |first= Nels E. |author-link= |date= |title=Stjernstrom files, 'The LeTourneau Legend' |type = unpublished LeTourneau archive document | location= Longview, TX |publisher= LeTourneau University |page= xiv }}{{better source|date = July 2024}} The campus archive contact information is accessible [https://www.letu.edu/library/rg-museum.html#ContentBlock-1-2 here], last accessed July 9, 2024. Note, this link only provides information regarding contact with archive; no digital or otherwise viewable version of this document has been identified.</ref>{{verification needed|date = July 2024}}

LeTourneau held many respected positions throughout his life as a Christian layman, including as a leader in the [[Christian and Missionary Alliance|Christian & Missionary Alliance]] Church,{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}} of [[Christian Business Men's Connection]] International, (CBMC, then the Christian Business Men's Committee International),<ref>{{cite book | author = Dochuck, Darren | date = 2012 | chapter = Moving Mountains: The Business of Evangelicalism and Extraction in a Liberal Age | title = What's Good for Business: Business and American Politics since World War II | editor1 = Phillips-Fein, Kim | editor2 = Zelizer, Julian E. | location = Oxford, England | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]] | isbn = 9780199754007 | pages = 72–90 | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=AD243nwZXZYC&q=%22Darren+Dochuk%22&pg=72 | access-date = 9 July 2024}}</ref> and of the [[Gideons International]].{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}} For 30 years he flew thousands of miles each week to maintain Christian speaking engagements around the [[United States]] and overseas.{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}}

LeTourneau set aside 90 percent of his salary and company profits for religious donations, living on the other 10 percent.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Fones-Wolf|first1=Ken|date = 2015|title=Struggle for the Soul of the Postwar South: White Evangelical Protestants and Operation Dixie|location = Urbana, IL|publisher=University of Illinois Press|isbn=9780252039034|page=101}}</ref> He once stated that "I shovel out the money, and God shovels it back – but God has a bigger shovel".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://lmvfonline.org/the-man-who-gave-90-percent |title=The Man Who Gave 90 Percent |website=Living Mercy Voice Foundation |date=2019-02-07 |access-date=2024-09-12}}</ref> "You have made the word of God a glorious, practical reality," radio program host [[Robert Ripley]] told LeTourneau, then turned to the audience with his own trademark flourish. "And of such is the work of faith...believe it or not."<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Hammond|first1=Sarah R.|date = 2011|title='God Is My Partner': An Evangelical Business Man Confronts Depression and War|journal=Church History|volume=80|issue=3|page=499|doi=10.1017/S000964071100062X|s2cid=162327583}}</ref>

[[File:Colegio Robert Letourneau Los Olivos Lima PE.jpg|thumb|right|Robert Letourneau School in Los Olivos District, Lima, Peru]]

LeTourneau was a firm believer in the effectiveness of practical instruction combined with classroom studies; and, in 1946, he purchased an unused military hospital, accompanying land and buildings in Longview. There he established the LeTourneau Technical Institute at the site of the former Harmon General Hospital to provide sound technical and mechanical training, traditional college courses, and training for [[missionary]] technicians, based on the philosophy of combining work, education, and Christian testimony. The LeTourneau Technical Institute became a college in its own right, in 1961, and eventually gained "university" status to become [[LeTourneau University]].<ref>[http://www.Letourneau.edu LeTourneau University]</ref>

In 1953, LeTourneau began a development project in the country of [[Liberia]], [[West Africa]], with the diverse goals of colonization, land development, agricultural development, livestock introduction, evangelism and philanthropic activities.{{third party inline|date = July 2024}}<ref name = LeTourneauAutobio/>{{rp|256f}} In 1954, a colonization project with similar objectives to those in Liberia was established in the country of [[Peru]], [[South America]].{{third party inline|date = July 2024}}<ref name = LeTourneauAutobio/>{{rp|257-260}} The project in Peru was called "Tournavista".<ref name=DochukJAH2012>{{cite journal |last1=Dochuk |first1=Darren |date = 2012|title=Blessed by Oil, Cursed with Crude: God and Black Gold in the American Southwest |journal=Journal of American History |volume=99 |issue=1 |page=58 |doi=10.1093/jahist/jas100 |url = https://academic.oup.com/jah/article/99/1/51/855133 | access-date = 11 July 2024 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Death==
[[File:LeTourneau graves in Longview, TX IMG 4041.JPG|right|thumb|Graves of R.G. and Evelyn Peterson LeTourneau on the [[LeTourneau University]] campus in [[Longview, Texas|Longview]], [[Texas]]]]
[[File:Biblical verse on R.G. LeTurneau grave IMG 4038.JPG|right|thumb|[[Book of Matthew|Matthew]] 6:33, inscribed at the foot of R.G. LeTourneau's grave]]

In March 1969, LeTourneau suffered a severe stroke from which he never recovered.{{fact|date = July 2024}} He died on June 1, 1969, at the age of eighty.<ref name = DurhamHandBookofTX/> He was survived by his wife, Evelyn, and five children:<ref name = DurhamHandBookofTX/> four sons (Richard, Roy, Ted, and Ben), and a daughter, Louise Dick.{{fact|date = July 2024}}

==Awards, recognition, and legacy==
Known throughout the construction world as, "The Dean of Earthmoving," LeTourneau is considered to this day to have been the world's greatest inventor of earthmoving and materials handling equipment.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Haycraft|first1=William R.|title=History of Construction Equipment|journal=Journal of Construction Engineering and Management|date=2011|volume=137|issue=10|page=720|doi=10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0000374}}</ref> Few manufacturers of that era had such a profound effect upon the art of earthmoving as did LeTourneau. Just two years prior to his death, LeTourneau recorded his thoughts about the future of earthmoving equipment:<blockquote>Construction machinery will grow bigger and bigger, and more and more powerful. Instead of 'tons' of capacity, they'll be in 'hundreds of tons', and instead of hundreds of horsepower, they'll all be rated in 'thousands of horsepower' ... We're already seeing it in big hauling units in the mines, and believe me, when the contractor and mining companies start looking for bigger and more profitable hauling units and earthmoving equipment, I'm going to be right there, the firstest with the mostest.<ref>{{cite news | author = CWO Staff | date = February 27, 2011 | title = The Man with the Most | work = ConstructionWeekOnline.com | url = https://www.constructionweekonline.com/products-services/article-10946-the-man-with-the-most | access-date = 9 July 2024}}</ref></blockquote>

LeTourneau was active in his company as president and chairman of the board from 1929 until 1966.{{fact|date = July 2024}} He also held the position of chief engineer, personally working alongside his engineers and employees throughout his working life.{{fact|date = July 2024}} Having spent his entire life around earthmoving equipment, LeTourneau, by description of those close to him, was just as likely to be seen at the controls of one of his machines as attending to corporate matters; he preferred the former.<ref name = StjernstromLetourneauUnivDoc/>{{better source|date = July 2024}} LeTourneau, as described by the peers at the university he founded, shunned the high life and preferred to spend his time at the drawing board with the engineers designing new machinery or spending time on the factory floor overseeing his employees.<ref name = StjernstromLetourneauUnivDoc/>{{better source|date = July 2024}}

LeTourneau Hall at [[Toccoa Falls College]] was named in his honor.<ref>{{cite web|title=LeTourneau Hall|url=http://www.historicalmarkerproject.com/markers/HM17QW_letourneau-hall_Toccoa-Falls-GA.html|website=Historical Marker Project|access-date=8 February 2018}}</ref> [[Toccoa Airport]], also known as R. G. LeTourneau Field, was built by LeTourneau and named in his honor.

Throughout his career, he was the recipient of more than 30 awards and honors related to engineering, manufacturing, and the development of heavy equipment. In 1936, he was presented with the "Appreciation of Service Achievement 1931-1935," by [[Six Companies Incorporated]] for supplying earthmoving equipment to the "Boulder Dam" project. He was awarded the [[Frank P. Brown Medal]] in 1956. Recognition of service to the earthmoving industry later came from many other contractors in the industry, and, in February 1958, LeTourneau was presented with the "Beavers Award" by the Beavers, an association of leaders in the heavy construction industry. In presenting the award to LeTourneau, Beavers president George H. Atkinson, of the Guy F. Atkinson Company, a San Francisco contractor, said, "There is hardly any place in the vast industry that has not benefited through the products of Mr. LeTourneau's inventive genius."{{Citation needed|date=December 2008}}

==See also==
*[[LeTourneau University]]

==References==
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Some of this article was taken from [https://web.archive.org/web/20070212051449/http://www.letourneau-inc.com/about/RG_bio.htm], LeTourneau Technology Inc's since closed website.{{third party inline|date = July 2024}}
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book| last=Orlemann |first=Eric C. | year = 2001 | title = LeTourneau Earthmovers | location = [[St. Paul, MN]] | publisher = Motorbooks International (MBI) | page =  | isbn = 9780760308400 | url=https://archive.org/details/letourneauearthm00eric | access-date = 9 July 2024 | url-access=registration}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Dochuk |first1=Darren |date = 2012|title=Blessed by Oil, Cursed with Crude: God and Black Gold in the American Southwest |journal=Journal of American History |volume=99 |issue=1 |page=58 |doi=10.1093/jahist/jas100 |url = https://academic.oup.com/jah/article/99/1/51/855133 | access-date = 11 July 2024 |url-access=subscription }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last1=Durham |first1=Ken |date = January 10, 2001 |orig-date = 1976 | editor-last=Buenger |editor-first= Walter L.  |encyclopedia= [[Handbook of Texas]] online [tshaonline.org/handbook] |title= LeTourneau, Robert Gilmour (1888–1969) |url= https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/letourneau-robert-gilmour |access-date= 11 July 2024 |language=en |location= Austin, TX |publisher= [[Texas State Historical Association]] | id= |isbn= |issn= |oclc= |doi= |pages= |archive-url= |archive-date= |url-status= |quote= }}
* {{cite news | author = NYT Staff | date = June 2, 1969 | title = R. G. LeTourneau Dead at 80: Made Earth-Moving Equipment | newspaper = [[The New York Times]] | page = 45 | url = https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1969/06/02/90108766.pdf | access-date = 6 July 2024}}
* {{cite magazine | author = Time Staff | date = May 25, 1953 | title = Corporations: Repeat Performance | magazine=Time | volume=61 | issue=21 | page=94 | url= https://time.com/archive/6825652/corporations-repeat-performance/ | access-date = 9 July 2024}}
* {{cite report | first1=John H. | last1=Niemelä | first2=Dale | last2=Hardy  | date = October 31, 2007 | orig-date = November 29, 2004 | title=A History of R.G. LeTourneau's Earliest Scrapers: Culminating in the 1922 Mountain Mover | version = 1.1B | location = Longview, TX | publisher = J.H. Niemelä and LeTourneau University | s2cid=162762371 | url = https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/18b1/646907ce46fca88edc56f8ace67b829a0eb2.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190801225106/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/18b1/646907ce46fca88edc56f8ace67b829a0eb2.pdf | url-status=dead | archive-date=2019-08-01 | access-date = 9 July 2024}}
:The article opens, stating: "Commemorating the November 29, 2004, Designation by the A.S.M.E. of R.G. LeTourneau's Mountain Mover at LeTourneau University, Longview, TX as a Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark... This is the most recent revision of a paper submitted to the [[American Society of Mechanical Engineers]] [entitled] 'Nomination of R.G. LeTourneau's Mountain Mover for ASME Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark.'"
* "The LeTourneau Legend", Equipment history, {{ISBN|0-646-27692-1}} (Global General Publishing Pty Ltd; 1995, 1998, 3rd revised edition 2007).{{full|date = July 2024}}
* "The LeTourneau Archive", Equipment history, {{ISBN|0-9585608-0-3}} (Global General Publishing Pty Ltd; 2005)
* "WABCO Australia", LeTourneau Australia history, {{ISBN|0-9585608-1-1}} (Global General Publishing Pty Ltd; 2007).{{full|date = July 2024}}
* "The WABCO Archive Wheel-Tractor Scrapers", Letourneau-Westinghouse scraper history, {{ISBN|978-0-9871503-0-1}} (Global General Publishing Pty Ltd; 2011).{{full|date = July 2024}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* [https://texasarchive.org/2013_00338 An image from 1942, from The R. G. LeTourneau Archives, of his so-called "land battleship".]
* [http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/caes/do:0004-001-005-050-001 Road Building Machinery, Stephens Co. At plant of L.G. LeTourneau, near Toccoa, Georgia, May 1940.] From College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences Photograph Collection, University Archives, Hargrett Library, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia. Web. 4 June 2016.
* [http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/caes/do:0004-001-005-050-002 Road Building Machinery, Stephens Co. At plant of L.G. LeTourneau, near Toccoa, Georgia, May 1940.] From College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences Photograph Collection, University Archives, Hargrett Library, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia. Web. 4 June 2016.
* [http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/vang/id:stp002 Vanishing Georgia photograph of general office staff of LeTourneau Co. of Georgia, Toccoa, Stephens County, Georgia, ca. 1950-1953]
{{Joy Global}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Letourneau, R. G.}}
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[[Category:20th-century American inventors]]
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[[Category:Inventors from Vermont]]
[[Category:LeTourneau University]]
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