Typical of the oddball adventurers drawn to Texas during the 1920s, Davis enticed Luling’s city fathers to help him drill for oil following a séance with the noted mystic Edgar Cayce. Combining his savings with theirs, Davis drilled a dry hole, then another, then four more. Finally, on a steamy August afternoon in 1922, his last dollar spent, his office furniture sold, his telephone disconnected, Davis drove into the countryside to see how his seventh and last attempt was faring. He pulled up and stared. A geyser of oil was shooting into the Texas sky.
