The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 75, July 1971 - April, 1972 Page: 52
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
and await further stock subscriptions. The latter did not come
freely, primarily because of the arrest and imprisonment of William
Froehlich in mid-1923. He was convicted and sentenced to five years
in prison for embezzling funds from the Jackson State Bank of which
he was secretary. In no way were the Seefelds or the Diamond S Oil
Co. involved in his crime, but the notoriety of the case brought them
bad publicity and slowed sales of Diamond S stock in Wisconsin."
Operations resumed in May, 1924, but with a new objective. The
saltwater was cemented off above 3,668 feet and drilling was recom-
menced at 2,886 feet with the intention of sidetracking to the old gas
strata. Seefeld and Barnes supervised 48 straight days and nights of
continuous drilling in hopes of a speedy and successful completion.
They hit cap rock again between 3,404 and 3,4211/2 feet and en-
countered "Gas. Gas. Gas" between 3,452 and 3,467 feet but again
the stem twisted off and could not be fished out. Doering No. 1
was shut down for good. The leases of Diamond S Oil Co. expired
in mid-1925 and the Seefelds' second try at tapping the mineral wealth
of Texas was over."
In 'all, $98,033.29 went down the hole of Diamond S Oil Co.
Doering No. 1. This was actually not bad considering the depth to
which the well was drilled on two occasions and measured against
the contemporary South Texas wildcatter's rule-of-thumb that a
well cost 40 to 50 dollars per foot.8' Nevertheless, it was enough to
crush the Seefelds' hopes completely. And they lost much more be-
cause they had virtually ignored their agricultural holdings during
their preoccupation with oil. The LaSalle and Dimmit lands were
mortgaged to raise money for the oil company and they were lost
to creditors by 1928. Walter Seefeld lost his Palo Verde Ranch in the
same way and was forced to move to Houston (at 50 years of age)
and to seek a job as a manual laborer. Charles F. Seefeld salvaged
1,862 heavily mortgaged acres in Jim Wells County, which were let
8"Froehlich file, ibid. See also 'Walter F. Seefeld to Charles F. Seefeld, March 14, June 21,
1923; Walter F. Seefeld to Herman W. Butzke, May 21, 1923; Walter F. Seefeld to
Gustav A. Seefeld and Charles F. Seefeld, May 25, 1923, ibid.
88Log of Sidetracking of the Doering Well No. 1, ibid. See also Walter F. Seefeld
to Gustav A. Seefeld, April 21, 1923; Walter F. Seefeld to the Stockholders of the Dia-
mond S Oil Co., May 21, 1923, June 12, 1924; Walter F. Seefeld to V. B. Barnes, June
20, 1923; Walter F. Seefeld to Herman W. Butzke, June 21, 1924; Walter F. Seefeld to
Charles F. Seefeld, June 21, 1924; Walter F. Seefeld Memorandum, November 6, 1924,
ibid.
8"Walter F. Seefeld to Gustav A. Seefeld, April 21, 1923; Walter F. Seefeld Memo-
randum, November 4, 1924, ibid.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 75, July 1971 - April, 1972, periodical, 1972; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101201/m1/64/?rotate=270: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Texas State Historical Association.