Editing Continuous track (section)

=== 20th century efforts ===
[[Steam traction engines]] were used at the end of the 19th century in the [[Boer War]]s. But neither dreadnaught wheels nor continuous tracks were used, rather "roll-out" wooden plank roads were thrown under the wheels as required.<ref>''The Implement and Machinery Review'', 1901-01-02</ref>
In&nbsp;short, whilst the development of the continuous track engaged the attention of a number of inventors in the 18th and 19th centuries, the general use and exploitation of the continuous track belonged to the 20th century, mainly in the [[United States]] and [[England]].

A little-known American inventor, Henry Thomas Stith (1839–1916), had developed a continuous track prototype which was, in multiple forms, patented in 1873, 1880, and 1900.<ref>Henry T. Stith's patents for tracked wheels:  
* Stith, Henry T. [https://web.archive.org/web/20210812160111/https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid=00138707 "Improvement in traction-wheels"] U.S. Patent no. 138,707 (filed: 2 May 1873; issued: 6 May 1873).
* Stith, Henry T. [https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid=00224741 "Traction-wheel"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812160112/https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid=00224741 |date=2021-08-12 }} U.S. Patent no. 224,741 (filed: 5 August 1879; issued: 17 February 1880). 
* Stith, Henry T. [https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid=00654291 "Traction wheel"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812160111/https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid=00654291 |date=2021-08-12 }} U.S. Patent no. 654,291 (filed: 26 December 1899; issued: 24 July 1900).</ref><ref>Biographical information about the American inventor Henry Thomas Stith (1839-1916) is available from the [https://www.kshs.org/museum/musobjs/view/320173 Kansas Historical Society].</ref> The last was for the application of the track to a prototype off-road bicycle built for his son.<ref name="stith">{{cite journal |title=The Tank Tread Was His Baby |journal=Popular Science |year=1944 |issue=June |page=63 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mCYDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA63 |access-date=2011-08-24 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313131943/https://books.google.com/books?id=mCYDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA63 |archive-date=2017-03-13 }}</ref> The 1900 prototype is retained by his surviving family.

Frank Beamond (1870–1941), a less-commonly known but significant British inventor, designed and built caterpillar tracks, and was granted patents for them in a number of countries, in 1900 and 1907.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.users.waitrose.com/~rogerbeamond/INVENTION.pdf|title=Invention of the Caterpillar Track: Frank Beamond and his Patents|access-date=2014-12-10|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150721184346/http://www.users.waitrose.com/~rogerbeamond/INVENTION.pdf|archive-date=2015-07-21}}</ref>

[[File:Lombard steam log hauler.jpg|thumb|Lombard Steam Log Hauler (Designed, patented 1901)]]