Grandview Tribune (Grandview, Tex.), Vol. 106, No. 18, Ed. 1 Friday, December 15, 2000 Page: 10 of 10
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Grandview Tribune, December 15, 2000 Page 10
Farm & Ranch
Spindletop Historical Series - Part One
The players: Celebrating the Wildcatter spirit and ingenuity
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FROM THE FARM’
" HU!, "n " |
CDINDLETOP
° 1901-2001
heavy cannon shot. Mud erupted raised the money. Remarkable tech-
from the hole, followed bv a terrific nical ingenuity was delivered in
column of gas and then heavy, spades by the Hamill Brothers.
greenish oil that shot 150-200 feet Higgins had the unwavering
into the air. It would take the aston- belief that oil was under Spindletop
days to cap the Hill. More times than not, popular
consensus and current wisdom ran
counter to Iris declarations in the
al city. His religious life continued
as he taught a Sunday School class
for young women.
After church, many picnics
were taken on a grassy knoll know
as “The Hill.” As a self-taught natu-
ralist, the seepages, bad odors and
wraithlike figures of St. Elmo s
lights in the evenings led Higgins to
believe that oil could be found there.
While on a research trip to east-
ern brick factories. Higgins not only
saw producing oil most efficient
brick factories of the day were oil
burning. Thus began his crusade to
find oil on Spindletop Hill.
In 1892, he convinced two
Beaumont businessmen to invest in
the Gladys City Oil, Gas and
Manufacturing Company. The com-
pany was named after Gladys
Bingham, a young woman in his
Sunday School class. Higgins
unsuccessfully drilled in 1893 and
1895.
By 1896, most oil experts and
Beaumont residents believed finding
oil at The Hill was a worthless pur-
suit. undaunted, Higgins advertised
in magazines, newspappers and
industrial journals for engineers and
gwologists interested in developing
the tract.
Captain Lucas, an Austian
expert on salt-dome mining,
responded to the ad. Educated as an
engineer and having served in the
Austrian Navy, he settled in the
United States because he like the
optimism. adeptness, perseverance
and the risk-taking entrepreneurship
of the American people.
After visiting the site and
examining Higgins' records, Lucas
also felt oil was present, in part
because he had found some oil in
similar formations while salt mining
in Louisiana.
In June 1899, Lucas partnered
with Higgins and leased a tract of
land from Gladys City to drill. After
six months, and only drilling to 575
feet with equipment that proved to
be too light for the task, money ran
out.
Still believing in the project,
Lucas traveled east to seek addition-
al funding. He soon met with james
M. Guffey and John H. Galey, a
famous Pittsburgh wildcatting team.
That, in turn, successfully engaged
the interest of Eastern-financier
Andrew Mellon.
Showing good faith with die
new partners. Lucas drew no salary
and he and his wife soon were sell-
ing furniture out of their home to
meet household expenses.
Money and contacts brought the
final critical players to Spindletop-
The Hamill Brothers Drilling com-
pany from Corsicana, the best rotary
drillers of their day.
In October 1899. using the
heavier and more advanced drilling
equipment that the hard rock and
quicksand site would demand, the
Hamills met each challenge with
ingenuity' and resourcefulness.
Answers to Crossword Puzzle
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On a clear. cold January morn- in 1901. the Lucas gusher at
ing. as the drill bit was pulled above Spindletop Hill signaled the begin-
the denick floor, as it had been him-. mug ol a new ers - propelling mod-
dreds of times in the past four em industrial development with a
months, mud suddenly bubbled up cheap and abundant fuel source.
Then mud exploded out of the In wildcatter fashion, the men
drilling hole, hurling six tons of pipe who came together and brought in
into the air like straw over the der- Spindletop were extremely resource-
rick top to land like giant spears in ful and demonstrated unyielding
the ground. faith. Patti Ho Higgins started with
After a few moments of silence, the vision'. Anthony F. Lucas con-
. there came a terrific roar like a tributed expertise and doggedly
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decade leading up to the gusher. As in most drilling operations,
A sell-educated Higgins left the crew of Al and Curt Hamill and
school in the 4th giadc to apprentice Peck Byrd worked around the clock
as a gunsmith. Always an eager for $2 per foot drilled.
learner, he went through life com- At the well site, they lived in a
pletely self-assured. As a teenager. 14-foot by 30-foot one-room shack,
he was described as a practical.joker With only board windows and no
and troublemaker, a fact that was screens, “the mosquitoes were terri-
evidenced by the loss of an arm lol- ble... all these frogs everywhere,
low ing an altercation with deputies, they would jump and land on the
Still, he was known as a better fight- table w hile we were eating,” said
er than most men with two arms. Curt Hamill in an account of the
Working in the violent and period.
immoral atmosphere of the east In January, diligence and inge-
Texas logging camps, Higgins life nuity paid off when the first gusher
was turned around during a Baptist in the U.S. shot up in air over 150 ft
revival meeting. "I used to put my Within days of the Lucas gush-
trust in pistols...now my trust is in er. Texas became tire focus of the oil
God. he then said. industry and created a fevered rush
Returning to Beaumont, to Beaumont for wealth.
Higgins began a real estate business.
but dreamed of creating an industri- Part Two next week
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Photo of the Lucas No. 1 derrick-
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Bosher, Casey & Marten, Donna K. Grandview Tribune (Grandview, Tex.), Vol. 106, No. 18, Ed. 1 Friday, December 15, 2000, newspaper, December 15, 2000; Grandview, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1473262/m1/10/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Grandview Public Library.