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Giant Under the Hill: A History of the Spindletop Oil Discovery at Beaumont, Texas, in 1901
How did a profligate who killed a deputy sheriff before reforming, a mining engineer who went AWOL from the Austrian navy, and three East Texas drillers join forces with other equally colorful characters to drill on Spindletop Hill? The answers are all here—the challenge and frustration of the search, the excitement of the discovery, the euphoric chaos of the boom, and the genesis of the giant companies.
In this scholarly work firmly rooted in the narrative tradition, and using material collected over decades, the authors bring to life the efforts of Pattillo Higgins, Anthony Lucas, Al and Curt Hamill, and Peck Byrd to master the Spindletop salt dome—efforts that culminated in the discovery of the great Lucas Gusher. Their find subsequently transformed not only the state of Texas but the entire oil industry.
In this scholarly work firmly rooted in the narrative tradition, and using material collected over decades, the authors bring to life the efforts of Pattillo Higgins, Anthony Lucas, Al and Curt Hamill, and Peck Byrd to master the Spindletop salt dome—efforts that culminated in the discovery of the great Lucas Gusher. Their find subsequently transformed not only the state of Texas but the entire oil industry.
344 pages, Paperback
First published July 10, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 26, 2022
Month of May 2022: Local History
This was a pretty interesting history book that reads much like a novel. The main characters are introduced and followed through the discovery, the oil boom, and their deaths. The three female authors did a great job setting the stage for the discovery of oil and its effects on the people and the area in and around Beaumont, Texas, and included a ton of early photos.
Spindletop is only a 40 minute drive from my house. I have driven by this place right off Highway 69 a million times throughout my life and have never once stopped to investigate. The only thing there today is a field with a bit of a replica built village and, according to this book, a marker where the original Lucas Gusher was discovered…never any people.
Spindletop was not the first oil discovery in the U.S, but it was the first to spew more oil than all the oil already discovered in the U.S. and around the world put together. The Lucas Gusher was the first big oil gusher discovered on January 10, 1901, on Sour Mound Hill, a natural salt dome, but no one was ready for it. They hadn’t even considered how to cap it off, and a million barrels worth of oil spewed 150 feet into the air and out all over the fields for nine days straight, until a cap was invented, then it dried up.
Before the Lucas Gusher, Corsicana laid claim to the largest oil drilling site in the State of Texas, producing 65,975 barrels a year.
Drilling on Sour Mound Hill continued and six more gushers were discovered in the area in the following two months. This time they were ready. A cap had been created and storage tanks as well. They were ready to roll. These discoveries put America in first place for oil over Russia’s oil discoveries. Beaumont, Texas, once a settlement called Tevis Bluff, became an overnight sensation, people came in from all over hoping to strike it rich. The population rose from about 9,000 to 30,000 in a matter of a few weeks. Beaumont was not prepared to house or care for so many people. This provides little nuggets of interesting reading.
It's crazy to think that oil wasn’t actually “drilled” before 1859. They used to gather it wherever they saw a spring or hand dug to get to the oil. Pennsylvania eventually had the first drilled wells, owned by none other than John D. Rockefeller.
After the Lucas Gusher, and following the six gushers, in 1901, another six more wells by different companies were built and began digging into Sour Mound Hill, now known as Spindletop, and the next gusher blew 11 weeks later, on March 26. By June, all thirteen had discovered oil. By October 1901 there were 440 wells, 77 were gushers. By Nov and Dec there were 138 more gushers with 46 rigs in the process of being built.
Within four years, 1905, Texas was producing more than 1/4 crude oil in the country, and by 1942, the eve of WWII, there were forty-six oil fields within 100 miles of Spindletop, with 2,440 wells producing oil. The wells were so numerous and close together that some legs of one well would have to be cut off to allow another well to fit. Also at this time, it’s estimated there were from 25 to 30 saloons just at Spindletop alone.
Drilling for oil in Southeast Texas presented a couple of new, major problems to overcome: quicksand and gas pushing up sand and clogging the pipes.
Perry McFaddin was a cattleman who leased the rights to his land for drilling (p. 93). Here, they came across quicksand. To overcome the quicksand, they drilled an 8” pipe down the well to keep the walls from caving in, then a 4” pipe, with a drive shoe attached to the bottom for driving through rocks or anything else, inside the 8”. Using rope, they had to manually lift a drive block as high as they could and let it loose, hitting the 4” pipe. Each pounding only brought the pipe down a foot or two at a time, and they had 1,200 feet to go. It took them 20 days to go through this quicksand. Some days after hauling up the drive block by hand over and over, they’d manage only a few feet.
Another major problem they had to learn to deal with was controlling the gas. Gas would push sand up into the pipe, clogging it up to a hundred feet or so. They created a valve that would open when water was poured down the pipe, but close when gas pressure tried to push the sand up so the sand would stay at the bottom of the well and not fill the pipes. Of course, this first valve attempt was made out of canvas and became useless the deeper they drilled where gas pressure was just too great. Another more stable valve had to be invented on the fly.
Two types of small oil fields were being discovered in the U.S.: light oil used for kerosene lamps and such things, and heavy oil used for the beginning discoveries of fuel uses. For example, depending on how much more oil could be discovered like the Lucas Gusher, would determine the eligibility of companies moving from coal to liquid fuel.
INTERESTING LITTLE TIDBIT ON JOHN D. ROCKERFELLER
By 1880, John D. Rockefeller had pretty much bought up stock options from most other smaller oil companies until he was the sole owner of 90% of all oil companies in America. Standard Oil was owned by Rockefeller who, at first, declined financial support in the beginning of the oil discovery at Spindletop. But, by 1902, they were looking for a way in. One problem: Texas didn’t want Standard Oil back into Texas because of anti-trust laws they had broken a few years back. They had been evicted from the State of Texas. So, Standard Oil sent in one man, as a cover, to build the largest refinery in Beaumont in 1902. A bank, backed by Standard Oil, was opened in the State of Texas, and subsequently loaned money to this man to build this refinery. As soon as it was built, the man walked away and it became Security Refinery. By 1906, Security Refinery was charged with anti-trust laws and, once again, evicted from the State of Texas. It wasn’t until 1911 when the U.S. Supreme Court ordered Standard Oil to dissolve.
FOLLOWUP BOOK TO READ ABOUT ROSINE MCFADDIN WILSON
I found it interesting that on the Acknowledgments page, credit was given to Rosine McFaddin Wilson (granddaughter of Perry McFaddin, a key character during the oil boom) for providing a generous financial gift to assist in publication and even proofed the manuscript for this book, which was published in 2002. In 1998, there was also a book published by Roger L. Shaffer called “Spindletop Unwound”, in which Rosine was charged with the murder of her ranch hand, and maybe her lover?, Joe Perkins. That is all I know. This book is on my TBR list. Hopefully, I’ll get to it sometime this year. Maybe a month of True Crime?
This was a pretty interesting history book that reads much like a novel. The main characters are introduced and followed through the discovery, the oil boom, and their deaths. The three female authors did a great job setting the stage for the discovery of oil and its effects on the people and the area in and around Beaumont, Texas, and included a ton of early photos.
Spindletop is only a 40 minute drive from my house. I have driven by this place right off Highway 69 a million times throughout my life and have never once stopped to investigate. The only thing there today is a field with a bit of a replica built village and, according to this book, a marker where the original Lucas Gusher was discovered…never any people.
Spindletop was not the first oil discovery in the U.S, but it was the first to spew more oil than all the oil already discovered in the U.S. and around the world put together. The Lucas Gusher was the first big oil gusher discovered on January 10, 1901, on Sour Mound Hill, a natural salt dome, but no one was ready for it. They hadn’t even considered how to cap it off, and a million barrels worth of oil spewed 150 feet into the air and out all over the fields for nine days straight, until a cap was invented, then it dried up.
Before the Lucas Gusher, Corsicana laid claim to the largest oil drilling site in the State of Texas, producing 65,975 barrels a year.
Drilling on Sour Mound Hill continued and six more gushers were discovered in the area in the following two months. This time they were ready. A cap had been created and storage tanks as well. They were ready to roll. These discoveries put America in first place for oil over Russia’s oil discoveries. Beaumont, Texas, once a settlement called Tevis Bluff, became an overnight sensation, people came in from all over hoping to strike it rich. The population rose from about 9,000 to 30,000 in a matter of a few weeks. Beaumont was not prepared to house or care for so many people. This provides little nuggets of interesting reading.
It's crazy to think that oil wasn’t actually “drilled” before 1859. They used to gather it wherever they saw a spring or hand dug to get to the oil. Pennsylvania eventually had the first drilled wells, owned by none other than John D. Rockefeller.
After the Lucas Gusher, and following the six gushers, in 1901, another six more wells by different companies were built and began digging into Sour Mound Hill, now known as Spindletop, and the next gusher blew 11 weeks later, on March 26. By June, all thirteen had discovered oil. By October 1901 there were 440 wells, 77 were gushers. By Nov and Dec there were 138 more gushers with 46 rigs in the process of being built.
Within four years, 1905, Texas was producing more than 1/4 crude oil in the country, and by 1942, the eve of WWII, there were forty-six oil fields within 100 miles of Spindletop, with 2,440 wells producing oil. The wells were so numerous and close together that some legs of one well would have to be cut off to allow another well to fit. Also at this time, it’s estimated there were from 25 to 30 saloons just at Spindletop alone.
Drilling for oil in Southeast Texas presented a couple of new, major problems to overcome: quicksand and gas pushing up sand and clogging the pipes.
Perry McFaddin was a cattleman who leased the rights to his land for drilling (p. 93). Here, they came across quicksand. To overcome the quicksand, they drilled an 8” pipe down the well to keep the walls from caving in, then a 4” pipe, with a drive shoe attached to the bottom for driving through rocks or anything else, inside the 8”. Using rope, they had to manually lift a drive block as high as they could and let it loose, hitting the 4” pipe. Each pounding only brought the pipe down a foot or two at a time, and they had 1,200 feet to go. It took them 20 days to go through this quicksand. Some days after hauling up the drive block by hand over and over, they’d manage only a few feet.
Another major problem they had to learn to deal with was controlling the gas. Gas would push sand up into the pipe, clogging it up to a hundred feet or so. They created a valve that would open when water was poured down the pipe, but close when gas pressure tried to push the sand up so the sand would stay at the bottom of the well and not fill the pipes. Of course, this first valve attempt was made out of canvas and became useless the deeper they drilled where gas pressure was just too great. Another more stable valve had to be invented on the fly.
Two types of small oil fields were being discovered in the U.S.: light oil used for kerosene lamps and such things, and heavy oil used for the beginning discoveries of fuel uses. For example, depending on how much more oil could be discovered like the Lucas Gusher, would determine the eligibility of companies moving from coal to liquid fuel.
INTERESTING LITTLE TIDBIT ON JOHN D. ROCKERFELLER
By 1880, John D. Rockefeller had pretty much bought up stock options from most other smaller oil companies until he was the sole owner of 90% of all oil companies in America. Standard Oil was owned by Rockefeller who, at first, declined financial support in the beginning of the oil discovery at Spindletop. But, by 1902, they were looking for a way in. One problem: Texas didn’t want Standard Oil back into Texas because of anti-trust laws they had broken a few years back. They had been evicted from the State of Texas. So, Standard Oil sent in one man, as a cover, to build the largest refinery in Beaumont in 1902. A bank, backed by Standard Oil, was opened in the State of Texas, and subsequently loaned money to this man to build this refinery. As soon as it was built, the man walked away and it became Security Refinery. By 1906, Security Refinery was charged with anti-trust laws and, once again, evicted from the State of Texas. It wasn’t until 1911 when the U.S. Supreme Court ordered Standard Oil to dissolve.
FOLLOWUP BOOK TO READ ABOUT ROSINE MCFADDIN WILSON
I found it interesting that on the Acknowledgments page, credit was given to Rosine McFaddin Wilson (granddaughter of Perry McFaddin, a key character during the oil boom) for providing a generous financial gift to assist in publication and even proofed the manuscript for this book, which was published in 2002. In 1998, there was also a book published by Roger L. Shaffer called “Spindletop Unwound”, in which Rosine was charged with the murder of her ranch hand, and maybe her lover?, Joe Perkins. That is all I know. This book is on my TBR list. Hopefully, I’ll get to it sometime this year. Maybe a month of True Crime?
February 23, 2018
Giant Under the Hill is an excellent historical read on the Spindletop oil discovery in Beaumont Texas in 1900 that led to the formation of Texaco, Sunoco and Gulf.
The book follows Pattillo Higgins as he sees evidence of oil seeping out of the ground in the 1880s and continues to believe there is oil beneath the ground. Anthony Lucas, a geologist, later comes to believe there is oil beneath the salt dome there. Eventually they burn through all their money and more drilling test well. Eventually Lucas gains the help of oil experts from Pennsylvania after cutting out Pattillo and sacrificing 90% of his royalties to get the costly rigs to drill that could drill deep enough. Eventually they find oil nearly 1200 feet below ground and Beaumont becomes a boom town and Spindletop becomes the largest oil find in history up to that date
The book provides many historical insights into the Boomtown life of Beaumont. Even though the oil field went dry after a few years the long lasting effect upon the world included SE Texas becoming the refinery capital of the world. The level of oil and wildcatting expertise led to many other important discoveries in Texas and Lucas’ geological theory of oil and salt dome co-presence became much more widely accepted. Fire safety protocols and metal storage tanks were developed as Spindletop was the scene of many fires. One began when lightning struck an earthen oil pond and wasn’t put out for weeks.
The book details the impact of the gushers on America including many who flocked to Beaumont for jobs, the primitive methods used to get at the the oil including the wide spread use of mule trains carrying equipment and supplies, examples of Jim Crow segregation where oil rig, logging and mule teams were strictly segregated all made for an informative read. There is little discussion of the environmental effect of the discovery which included the near devastation of the Big Thicket.
This book was published by the Texas Historical Society and is notable because it follows the drama of these early characters and their exploration. Although narrow in its focus and impact, I found Giant Under the Hill to be a more enjoyable read than The Prize, the bestseller on the history of oil, by Daniel Yergin. It is uncommon for a regional history book to be this well written. I give it 4.5 stars.
The book follows Pattillo Higgins as he sees evidence of oil seeping out of the ground in the 1880s and continues to believe there is oil beneath the ground. Anthony Lucas, a geologist, later comes to believe there is oil beneath the salt dome there. Eventually they burn through all their money and more drilling test well. Eventually Lucas gains the help of oil experts from Pennsylvania after cutting out Pattillo and sacrificing 90% of his royalties to get the costly rigs to drill that could drill deep enough. Eventually they find oil nearly 1200 feet below ground and Beaumont becomes a boom town and Spindletop becomes the largest oil find in history up to that date
The book provides many historical insights into the Boomtown life of Beaumont. Even though the oil field went dry after a few years the long lasting effect upon the world included SE Texas becoming the refinery capital of the world. The level of oil and wildcatting expertise led to many other important discoveries in Texas and Lucas’ geological theory of oil and salt dome co-presence became much more widely accepted. Fire safety protocols and metal storage tanks were developed as Spindletop was the scene of many fires. One began when lightning struck an earthen oil pond and wasn’t put out for weeks.
The book details the impact of the gushers on America including many who flocked to Beaumont for jobs, the primitive methods used to get at the the oil including the wide spread use of mule trains carrying equipment and supplies, examples of Jim Crow segregation where oil rig, logging and mule teams were strictly segregated all made for an informative read. There is little discussion of the environmental effect of the discovery which included the near devastation of the Big Thicket.
This book was published by the Texas Historical Society and is notable because it follows the drama of these early characters and their exploration. Although narrow in its focus and impact, I found Giant Under the Hill to be a more enjoyable read than The Prize, the bestseller on the history of oil, by Daniel Yergin. It is uncommon for a regional history book to be this well written. I give it 4.5 stars.
March 5, 2021
When I was growing up in South Texas in the 1960s, I would hear stories about and references to Spindletop. Part of what I was hearing was my father being Texas Proud. But also I heard of these stories and references because my uncle--my father's brother--worked in Houston which was a city just outgrowing its boomtown status.
When compiling my subject list for my personal challenge 21 All About Texas in 2021, I knew that "Oil" would be on my list. When I saw that this book about Spindletop was published by the Texas State Historical Association, I knew I would be able to learn about Spindletop in a less technical way than I thought I might have to.
I also appreciate that the three sister writers of this book are 6th-generation Jefferson County, Texas natives. This means at to the sister historians that Beaumont,Texas and Spindletop the oil rig were familiar topics to them. That familiarity with topic matters in an book that is well researched and accessible.
This book provides the reader with the social history and context of Spindletop, the principle participants in bringing and selling the oil. If the reader wants technical information, the reader will have to look elsewhere.
When compiling my subject list for my personal challenge 21 All About Texas in 2021, I knew that "Oil" would be on my list. When I saw that this book about Spindletop was published by the Texas State Historical Association, I knew I would be able to learn about Spindletop in a less technical way than I thought I might have to.
I also appreciate that the three sister writers of this book are 6th-generation Jefferson County, Texas natives. This means at to the sister historians that Beaumont,Texas and Spindletop the oil rig were familiar topics to them. That familiarity with topic matters in an book that is well researched and accessible.
This book provides the reader with the social history and context of Spindletop, the principle participants in bringing and selling the oil. If the reader wants technical information, the reader will have to look elsewhere.
March 4, 2008
Chosen for book club, this was a surprisingly readable story about Spindletop, the oil discovery that changed the world forever. It did a great job of exploring the personalities and the science behind the discovery, though my favorite part was regarding the boomtowns that developed throughout East Texas in the wake of the gusher. Did you know that the original Spindletop gusher (called the Lucas Gusher) didn't really make any money at all because it took so long for it to be capped--the technology didn't exist and had to be created on the fly. Doesn't make me feel any better about the oil industry today, but does provide a rich context for how we got to where we are today.
March 21, 2010
Wonderful retelling of the Spindletop gusher. Especially interesting to me as I lived less than 2 miles from the original wellsite & Gladys City. The names of prominent Beaumont families are familiar to me as well as some of their legacies. If you wonder about early TX oil history, an easy book to read.
October 10, 2013
I had to read this book for my college Texas History class. It wasn't that bad of a read, especially since my college is in the same town as this book takes place in.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews