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N0KFQ > TODAY 10.01.13 17:03l 55 Lines 2600 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 34251_KB0WSA
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Jan 10
Path: IZ3LSV<F1OYP<F4DUR<CX2SA<LW6EVE<N0KFQ<KB0WSA
Sent: 130110/1450Z 34251@KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.53
...
Jan 10, 1901:
Gusher signals start of U.S. oil industry
On this day in 1901, a drilling derrick at Spindletop Hill near
Beaumont, Texas, produces an enormous gusher of crude oil, coating the
landscape for hundreds of feet and signaling the advent of the
American oil industry. The geyser was discovered at a depth of over
1,000 feet, flowed at an initial rate of approximately 100,000 barrels
a day and took nine days to cap. Following the discovery, petroleum,
which until that time had been used in the U.S. primarily as a
lubricant and in kerosene for lamps, would become the main fuel source
for new inventions such as cars and airplanes; coal-powered forms of
transportation including ships and trains would also convert to the
liquid fuel.
Crude oil, which became the world's first trillion-dollar industry, is
a natural mix of hundreds of different hydrocarbon compounds trapped
in underground rock. The hydrocarbons were formed millions of years
ago when tiny aquatic plants and animals died and settled on the
bottoms of ancient waterways, creating a thick layer of organic
material. Sediment later covered this material, putting heat and
pressure on it and transforming it into the petroleum that comes out
of the ground today.
In the early 1890s, Texas businessman and amateur geologist Patillo
Higgins became convinced there was a large pool of oil under a
salt-dome formation south of Beaumont. He and several partners
established the Gladys City Oil, Gas and Manufacturing Company and
made several unsuccessful drilling attempts before Higgins left the
company. In 1899, Higgins leased a tract of land at Spindletop to
mining engineer Anthony Lucas. The Lucas gusher blew on January 10,
1901, and ushered in the liquid fuel age. Unfortunately for Higgins,
he'd lost his ownership stake by that point.
Beaumont became a "black gold" boomtown, its population tripling in
three months. The town filled up with oil workers, investors,
merchants and con men (leading some people to dub it "Swindletop").
Within a year, there were more than 285 actives wells at Spindletop
and an estimated 500 oil and land companies operating in the area,
including some that are major players today: Humble (now Exxon), the
Texas Company (Texaco) and Magnolia Petroleum Company (Mobil).
Spindletop experienced a second boom starting in the mid-1920s when
more oil was discovered at deeper depths. In the 1950s, Spindletop was
mined for sulphur. Today, only a few oil wells still operate in the
area.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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