- Hi, this is Chris Schuelke with the Otter Tail County Historical Society in Fergus Falls, Minnesota.

And this is our Artifact Spotlight.

(upbeat music) One of the most common pieces of machinery that is utilized throughout the world is the Bobcat, the self-propelled loader, and it had its start right here in Otter Tail County.

So in 1956, Rothsay area turkey farmer Eddie Velo was having issues cleaning his turkey barns.

Turkeys generate a lot of waste.

And so in his pole barn, he had a number of poles located throughout.

And so he could not find a machine that would circumvent the poles and clean his barns in a more efficient, timely manner.

So he contacted two blacksmiths, two machinists in Rothsay, Louie and Cy Keller, and came to them with a problem that I need a machine to clean my turkey barns in a more efficient manner.

So working together, the Keller Brothers and Eddie Velo, solved the problem and they came up with a self-propelled loader that was able to move around the poles in the turkey barn and was able to clean the waste in a much more efficient manner.

And it was a new machine that no one had really seen anything like this.

Maneuverable was one of the big things, economical, dependable.

It didn't cost a ton of money.

Especially turkey farmers initially to clean their barns but it had so many other uses.

Now, the Keller's eventually decided to patent this.

So here's the original patent that the Keller Brothers applied for with the patent office.

And it's the clutch drive mechanism that you'll see right here.

That is what the patent was for.

Not the actual total machine but the clutch drive that was totally unique.

No one had seen anything like that.

And eventually that's what became patented and became known as eventually the Bobcat.

Now, this happened in the late 1950s when Cy and Louis Keller brought a prototype Bobcat down to the Minnesota State Fair to demonstrate.

And representatives from Melroe Company were there.

And eventually that formed into a partnership with Melroe Company to manufacture the Bobcat.

And the rest they say is history.

The Bobcat is now used throughout not just the United States, but throughout the world for a variety of different purposes.

And again, the original, the first, was made right here in Otter Tail County, and it's now on display at the Otter Tail County Historical Society.

(upbeat music) - [Announcer] Funded by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4th, 2008, and by the members of Prairie Public.