Pioneering the Gulf coast; a story of the life and accomplishments of Capt. Anthony F. Lucas
*v V^SS^V „0 "V w • JBtA^ flU0* V sill = tf # AO1 ^ o. *%> Vfcfc W -M V : fti 4 A *<, V &2S.V " "^.-r ;-X' • • o^-iS^ -(♦»* ♦* « rov - ? *« I B ^>£- °« Vf ° Jf§| r <W . ^/Q*. ^Ds0' ^V coNc &° • ^--.v • • fe*X;° • i:K- -. v •" ^ <• • * «j cm pioneerin- 1 -the Gulf Cozxst ,^r'3!;MprIZ;.::P CAPT. A. F. LUCAS PIONEERING THE GULF COAST A STORY OF THE LIFE AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF CAPT. ANTHONY F. LUCAS By REID SAYERS McBETH THE LUCAS GUSHER *Cur tKfU- a.. 3-.jLlo*-* yy # — i. L ' i Chapter I THE MAKING OF AN AMERICAN The story of a man who adopted a new land and saw in it what its own sons had overlooked. Persistency and a nimble brain, backed by unwavering confidence in the geological deductions that were the result of years of study and experience, made Capt. Anthony F. Lucas the foremost figure in the development of the mineral resources of the coastal plain territory of Louisi- ana and Texas. It was he who first attached special geo- logical significance to the slight elevations on the surface of the Coastal Plain. And it was he who afterward proved these to be domes of great economic importance. Upon these domes is based the development of the vast petro- leum, rock salt and sulphur deposits in that part of the LTnited States adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico. It was Captain Lucas who, flying in the face of prece- dent and undaunted by unanimously negative advice both from geologists and oil men, began drilling his first well for oil near Beaumont, Tex., in 1899. By devising new drilling tactics he was able to conquer the quicksands that theretofore had proved an insurmountable obstacle and learn the secret of the lower rock formations. And his theory concerning dome deposits of petroleum was spec- tacularly vindicated in January, 1901, when the well came in with an output estimated at more than 100,000 barrels of oil a day. The well was the famous Lucas gusher at Spindle Top, the pioneer of the Gulf Coast oil development. This location has produced more than PIONEERING THE GULF COAST 50,000,000 barrels of oil and is still producing. The result of the Lucas well, which proved the existence of a natural resource of great worth hitherto unknown and unlooked for by scientists, was a great influx of capital and the beginning of an unprecedented era of prosperity for the district. And something of the man who brought it about. Captain Lucas is a great, upstanding man, with the features of a Roman statesman. He is a man upon whom one's eyes fall first, even though many others may be in the range of vision. He stands forth from the throng, even though he may be in the center of it. He is ideally American in appearance and spirit, though he was born in Austria. Born in 1855 in the city of Spalatro, Dalmatia, Aus- tria, which was founded by the great Roman Emperor Diocletian, Anthony F. Lucas (or Luchich, as the name then was known) was the son of a shipbuilder and ship- owner on the island of Lesina. His forefathers were of pure Montenegrin blood. When he was six years old, his family removed to Trieste, where he passed through the common branches and high school. It was during this early schooling that began a series of incidents which eventually made Anthony Lucas an American. The Austrian Government even then was endeavoring to Germanize Trieste, which lies in that stretch of territory known as "Italia Irredenta." At the end of each scholastic year Anthony's Italian and Slav classmates met the Ger- man boys of the school on a hill in the suburbs and settled accumulated grudges with clubs, stones and fists. At the age of 18 young Lucas entered the Polytechnic Institute at Gratz, being graduated two years later as an [6] PIONEERING THE GULF COAST engineer. In 1875, at the age of 20, he entered the Naval Academy of Fiume and Pola as a midshipman. He was graduated in 1878 and received a commission as lieuten- ant. It was his intention to follow a naval career, but, because of his Slav origin, he soon realized that his oppor- tunities for advancement were slight. Consequently, when an uncle who resided in the United States invited Lucas to visit him, the young naval lieutenant was more than willing to accept. Early in 1879, at the age of 24, Mr. Lucas arrived in the United States. He had obtained six months' leave of absence in which to make the trip. But he soon noticed the difference between the two countries, and the pros- pect of becoming a free American instead of an Austrian appealed to him strongly. It was at this time that he began using the name Lucas. His uncle had adopted the name because of the difficulty Americans had spelling and pronouncing Luchich. So the young visitor permitted himself likewise to be addressed as Lucas. When a tempo- rary position in America was offered him, he went to work — and has been working in America ever since. It was in Michigan, where he was visiting, that Mr. Lucas had his first opportunity to get his hand into the activities of the country that was about to adopt him. Saginaw, where he was residing, was the center of the lumber country. The design of a gang-saw lacked a great deal of being perfect and the young engineer was asked if he could solve the problem. He could. And he agreed readily. The design he completed was satisfactory to the mill men, and he was asked to supervise the erection of the saw. Then, just as the end of his leave was approaching, he PIONEERING THE GULF COAST was offered a salary equal to three times his pay as a lieutenant in the Austrian navy — so he asked to have his leave extended another six months. But before this sec- ond six months had expired he had resolved not to return to Austria. He remained three years with this employer, meanwhile making application for citizenship. He became Anthony F. Lucas, American citizen, when he received his final papers at Norfolk, Va., May 9, 1885. Only once since his arrival in America has Mr. Lucas visited Austria. That was in 1887, when he and Mrs. Lucas on their wed- ding journey visited his birthplace, as well as Trieste, Fiume and Pola. Although somewhat fearful of an em- barrassing situation as a result of his informal manner of leaving the Austrian naval service, Mr. Lucas was not troubled. On the contrary he was entertained by the naval officers at Pola. He remained abroad a year. Returning from Europe in 1888, Captain Lucas took up his residence in Washington, D.C., and entered the pro- fession of mechanical and mining engineer. First he pros- pected for gold with some little success in the San Juan region of Colorado. He had gained some experience in gold and copper mining before his marriage, having gone West in 1883. On this second western trip he remained two years. In 1893, when he was 38 years old, Captain Lucas accepted a position which marked the beginning of his association with the territory that became the scene of his greatest successes. He obtained employment as mining engineer at a salt mine at Petit Anse, La. Here he remained three years, constantly meeting and master- ing problems arising from the encroachment of water and caving in of the underground workings. [81 PIONEERING THE GULF COAST At 41, Captain Lucas began the exploration with dia- mond drill of Jefferson Island, which was a few miles off Petit Anse. This island was owned by the late Joseph Jefferson, the actor, with whom Captain Lucas had be- come acquainted during his three years of mining at Petit Anse. The drilling disclosed a great deposit of rock salt 99 per cent pure at a depth of 350 feet. The drill was stopped — still in salt — at a depth of 2,100 feet. At 42, beginning to cast his eyes on the economic re- sources of the coastal plain, Captain Lucas explored on his own account Belle Isle, La., discovering not only a deposit of salt, but also of petroleum and sulphur. He followed this up in 1898 with the uncovering of a great bed of rock salt at Grand Cote, La. This deposit now is being largely exploited. One year later Captain Lucas discovered at Anse la Butte, near Lafayette, La., both salt and oil. Conditions for developing the oil production at that time were not favorable, so he abandoned the discovery and went to Beaumont, Tex., about 70 miles west of Lafayette. The Anse la Butte district later became a producing oil terri- tory and its output of petroleum still is large. In 1899, at the age of 44, Captain Lucas was attracted to a slight elevation near Beaumont. It was known locally as Big Hill, although it arose only about 12 feet above the surface of the prairie. At the apex were exudations of sul- phuretted hydrogen gases, which suggested to Captain Lucas the possibility of an underlying incipient dome which, in the light of his Belle Isle experience, might prove a source of sulphur or oil. Then began the series of events which brought into existence the Gulf Coast oil fields. [9] Chapter II SPIXDLE TOP Difficulties almost innumerable overcome before the greatest well ever completed in the United States was drilled. What first attracted the attention of Captain Lucas to the hillock near Beaumont which was to be the scene of his notable triumph were its contour, which indicated pos- sibilities for an incipient dome below, and the exudations of gas at the apex. The sulphuretted hydrogen gas, he believed, betokened great possibilities to discover either oil or sulphur. So he decided to drill. Before starting the test well the explorer leased all the acreage he could obtain in the vicinity of his proposed operations. The hill embraced only about 300 acres, of which he obtained 220 acres. In order to have ample scope for the development, however, he leased alto- gether 27,000 acres. This precaution proved unnecessary, as no oil ever was found beyond the contour of the dome. The elevation already had been explored by three com- panies, but none of them had succeeded in sending a drill deeper than 250 feet. A bed of quicksand had been en- countered at about 200 feet. But Captain Lucas had some ideas acquired in his earlier explorations in Louisiana about coping with the quicksand problem. He knew that his predecessors had used the ordinary cable drilling method as used in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, etc., yet, owing to the generally soft yielding clayey and sandy formation encountered throughout the Coastal Plain, he surmised that in order to drill there with reasonable in] PIONEERING THE GULF COAST expectation of success, a change of method of drilling should be employed. He had in mind the hydraulic rotary drilling method, which at that time was almost unknown for oil-well drilling, with the exception that it had been used for drilling artesian wells of shallow depths on ranches and rice plantations. So Captain Lucas set to work with a crude rotary drill- ing outfit, and on first penetrating the quicksand, he soon realized that he had been correct in his surmise of why the others had failed. He succeeded, however, in passing the quicksand and bored to a depth of 575 feet. He en- countered an oil sand — but the well collapsed because of gas pressure and quicksand. Then came a series of discouraging incidents that would have disheartened any but the most courageous. Captain Lucas decided before proceeding with heavier rotary drill- ing machinery to seek aid, both geological and financial. He laid his proposition before several capitalists, but they failed to enthuse — in fact, some of them openly scoffed at the idea of oil ever being found in that locality. Anyway, they opined, if he did find oil it would prove of no com- mercial value. One of the men before whom Captain Lucas laid his project was a former Congressman from Pennslyvania. A mutual friend brought the meeting about. When he had heard what Captain Lucas had to offer, the former legislator proceeded to give a lecture on the dire conse- quences of unsubstantiated enthusiasm. He asserted fur- ther that he could not participate in such a wild scheme — he would lend no financial assistance unless he could count upon several thousand barrels of production a day. Cap- tain Lucas got what consolation he could out of replying [12] PIONEERING THE GULF COAST that if he had such a production as the Pennsylvanian named, it would have been unnecessary for him to seek financial aid. Among others to whom he outlined the proposition was an officer of the Standard Oil Company— H. C. Folger, Jr. With him to New York, Captain Lucas carried a bottle of the oil that he had obtained from the well before it collapsed. The night before the conference with Mr. Folger was bitterly cold, and Captain Lucas placed the bottle of oil outside his window to give it a cold test. The oil, which showed a gravity of 17 degrees Baume, did not congeal, although the temperature was below zero. De- lighted with the test, Captain Lucas went to Mr. Folger. He explained that he did not desire money personally, but was seeking assistance in further prospecting and proving the field. Although Mr. Folger's declination was gracious, he, however, declined. But he did promise to send Calvin Paine, who then was the Standard Oil Com- pany's expert, to look into the situation. Mr. Paine, accompanied by J. S. Cullinan, who later, as president of the Texas Company, was to take a leading part in the development of the Gulf Coast field, arrived at Beaumont a month later. The situation was looking decidedly brighter, Captain Lucas showed them the loca- tion of his first shallow well and the heavy oil he had obtained from it. Then he explained in detail his nascent dome theory, contending that the elevation was per se a distinct structure from the surrounding sedimentation of the prairie, with which the elevation was encircled, and giving the opinion that it was a dome. The two listened to all he had to say. Then it was Mr. Paine's turn to talk. He asserted that there was no indication whatever to [13] PIONEERING THE GULF COAST warrant the expectation of an oil field on the prairies of Southeast Texas. Furthermore, he stated that he had visited the oil fields of Russia, Borneo, Sumatra and Roumania, as well as all the fields of the United States, and that the indications Captain Lucas had shown him had no analogy to any oil field he ever had visited. There was absolutely no chance, he said, of petroleum being found in such quantity and of such quality as to prove a paying proposition. Again Captain Lucas showed him the flask of heavy oil that he had obtained from the well. Mr. Paine asserted that it was of no value or importance what- soever, and expressed the further opinion that such heavy stuff could be found anywhere. Captain Lucas, believing then and still believing that Mr. Paine was sincere in his advice that the Gulf Coast enthusiast quit dreaming and return to his profession of mining engineer, naturally felt a quavering of faith. It was necessary for him to take several deep breaths before deciding not to capitulate. But this was not the only blow the Lucas theory of dome deposits received. A few months after the visit of Mr. Paine, two widely known geologists visited the scene of Captain Lucas' operations. They were Dr. C. W. Hayes, then chief of the United States Geological Survey, and E. W. Parker, a former chief statistician of the Geo- logical Survey. To Dr. Hayes were given in detail by Captain Lucas his deductions regarding possible accumu- lations of petroleum about great masses of salt and that the elevation was a distinct structure from the surround- ing deposition. But Dr. Hayes did not agree with this view. He asserted there were no precedents upon which to base an expectation of finding oil in the great uncon- solidated sands and clays of the Coastal Plains, and to [Hi PIONEERING THE GULF COAST further substantiate his view, Dr. Hayes referred to the great well drilled by the city of Galveston only 40 miles off. This well, which was put down to a depth of about 3,070 feet, had cost almost $1,000,000. Dr. Hayes also pointed out to Captain Lucas that he had no seepages of oil or other recognized petroleum indications. Captain Lucas, however, pointed the sulphur dome near Lake Charles, Louisiana, then under development for sulphur by Herman Frasch as a possible analogy, and grasping at a straw, recounted how there the wells were yielding \Y/> barrels of oil. This was a heavy, viscous oil is true, and the production was not considered at all as an oil proposi- tion, but still it might serve to substantiate the Lucas views in the eyes of the famous geologist; but not the least encouragement could he obtain from Dr. Hayes. But, still undaunted, Captain Lucas again set out to seek co-operation and financial aid. This time he went to J. M. Guffey, of Pittsburgh, Pa. Mr. Guffey, although sceptical, finally was induced to give financial assistance, but, in return, Captain Lucas was obliged to relinquish the larger part of his interest in the venture. A contract was entered into by which Mr. Guffey agreed to bear the expense of drilling three wells, under the direction of Captain Lucas, to a depth of at least 1,200 feet. [15] Chapter III DRILLING THE GREAT GUSHER Baffling problems met and solved in completing well and bringing stream of oil under control. Those discouraging verdicts of Mr. Paine, Dr. Hayes and the others had had their effect. They hadn't shaken, however, Captain Lucas' faith in the economic possibili- ties of the dome, but they had made him realize that he could not expect to meet co-operation that had any such degree of enthusiasm as his own. So, as he expressed it, in order to obtain financial backing from Mr. Guffey, he was compelled "to sell his birthright for a mess of pottage." But he wasn't thinking of that just then. What he was bent on doing was to discover what was hid- den beneath that little elevation on the plain. Captain Lucas im- mediately contracted with Alfred and James Hamil, of Corsicana, Tex., to drill the three wells specified in the agreement with Mr. Guffey. The drilling mr. alfred hamil. a live wire, here contractors were to re- IN REPOSE, WHO BROUGHT IN THE LUCAS <* r . My i ' gusher ceive $2 a loot, exclu- 16 PIONEERING THE GULF COAST sive of the cost of casings. For the first well a site was chosen where the now famous Spindle Top, or Lucas, gusher was developed. Operations were commenced in October, 1900. The well was started with 12-inch casing, the diameter finally being reduced as depth was attained to 6 inches. The casings were large and heavy, Captain Lucas remembering the gas collapse that put an end to his first venture. Beaumont, however, had not as yet undergone the change incidental from a pastoral, lumber and rice indus- try to that of a rich oil field, and in consequence the various industrial requirements of an oil field were then un- known and sadly lacking. An incident may illustrate the arrival of the first carload of pipe destined to drill the Lucas gusher. This carload, known as the gondola type, was switched on a siding of the Southern Pacific branch leading to Port Arthur about two miles south of Beaumont, and near Spindle Top. Captain Lucas asked a local concern to proceed and unload it. The man went to look at the proposition and reported that such a job was entirely out of his line, and advised him to get a house-moving concern to do the unloading. Captain Lucas, therefore, found the house- moving expert and stated his needs, asking to send a couple of men to unload the car, as the railroad people were clamoring for it. The house-mover reported next morning that he would have to use a derrick and a horse- power outfit to unload that car, and that next day he would make an estimate of the probable cost. At that moment the head drilling contractor, Mr. Alfred Hamil, arrived in Beaumont and Captain Lucas explained to him the difficulty he seemed to encounter to get the carload of [17] PIONEERING THE GULF COAST pipe unloaded, whereupon Mr. Hamil suggested to drive over and look at the formidable proposition. When they arrived at the switch, Mr. Hamil took off his coat, climbed up on the car and before Captain Lucas could stop him had thrown over two lengths of six-inch pipe to act as skids and began to roll over the heavy twelve, eight and six inch pipes on the ground so fast that Captain Lucas was kept busy to roll them out of the way to make place for the avalanche of pipe rolling down the skids, so that in less than an hour the whole car was unloaded. They got into the buggy and returned to Beaumont, where they encountered the house-moving contractor, and this time with a regular estimate for the unloading of the car. Captain Lucas informed him, however, that he had no further need as the car had already been unloaded by the man sitting in the buggy next to him. The contractor would not believe it, stating that such a thing was impossi- ble, as he had talked to him in the morning and it was then afternoon; upon being informed that such was the case, however, he went straight to the switch to ascertain if the statement were true. This incident illustrates how little the local people of Beaumont were prepared in the art or experience of handling pipes and machinery; but they soon learned with vengeance, for it was only a few months later that not one car, but trainloads of pipes and machinery began to arrive, and the house-moving contractor, being by that time convinced that carloads of pipes could be unloaded without the aid of horse-power winches, ultimately became a valuable adjunct — not only in unloading pipes, but to string them along the 1 6-mile right-of-way to Port Arthur, [18] PIONEERING THE GULF COAST where the first oil pipe line was laid in Texas to supply oil for the refinery going up and for oil export. The pipe lines in Texas and Louisiana today cover thou- sands of miles and the capital invested in them aggregates hundreds of millions of dollars. The drilling went along with comparative smoothness until the quicksand was reached. At about 250 feet trouble began. The drill pipes began to stick; the minute the counter pressure exerted by the pump was stopped in order to place another length in, the pressure from below would manifest itself in a most disconcerting manner. Sand would fill up into the line for 100 feet or more, thus making it impossible to proceed. An effort was made to relieve the 6-inch pipe by going over it with an 8-inch pipe. But this in turn became stuck. The situation reached such a stage of acuteness that no progress was being made. Captain Lucas struggled with the problem, as did Alfred Hamil. Both worked indefatigably. The dissolution of the enterprise was imminent. Captain Lucas, in great distress to proceed with the work, toiled and pondered and fretted. But the night after he had arrived at the realization that the practicable limits had been reached, sleep would not come to him. His anguish drove his brain to re- newed effort. Then the solution came. It was almost morning when it occurred to him that a boiler having a 100-pound pres- sure of water could be pumped full without any water escap- ing. Why? Because it was equipped with a check valve. 19 PIONEERING THE GULF COAST Greatly excited, Captain Lucas dressed himself hur- riedly and hastened to see Hamil. He explained what he wanted and, out of boards from a pine box lying in his back yard, he made a check valve. With perforations in the center and a small rubber belt underneath, the check valve was placed between the couplings of the casings. The device served the purpose admirably. The idea of having it patented occurred to the inventor. But that — and the monetary reward that the patent undoubtedly would have brought — was forgotten in the frenzy of progress that the check valve made possible. While the drill works in alternating layers of clays and quicksand, it is difficult to ascertain to a certainty the various stratas passed on account that the returns brought out by the circulating pump are badly mixed, and also to the possibility to bring up heavy materials. The drill proceeded, therefore, through various layers of quicksand, gravel and clays until a depth of about 800 feet was reached, when a very hard bottom was struck, and here the 8-inch casing was set. The drilling then proceeded with a 6-inch fish tail bit, but drilling was found hard, and prog- ress was necessarily slow. The bit had to be periodically drawn out and resharpened, while the returns obtained in the settling pond were puzzling. In one instance, how- ever, when the bit emerged from the well, a lump of clay matter adhered to it, and by washing this down it was found to contain a piece of rock, the size of a small egg, which on examination proved to be limestone with calcite intercalations. This small piece of rock seemed to have given much comfort to Captain Lucas, for he remarked to the drilling crew that it looked quite encouraging. The extraction of [20] CALCITE AND LIMESTONE PIONEERING THE GULF COAST this small sample of limestone and calcite, together with some frag- ments of dolomite and sulphur, de- noted, however, the certainty that the drill had en- tered the dome structure proper, and proved the theory that the well was being drilled in the right place. The drilling proceeded in this formation for about 300 feet deeper with alternating layers of limestone, calcite, dolomite and sulphur, the true definition of the material drilled into, however, was hard to define, owing that the return as brought out by the circulating pump was prac- tically slimes. While lowering the 4-inch rod with a re- sharpened bit the group of men at the mouth of the well realized that the 4-inch rod, which was attached with the block and five strands of 2-inch cable, was beginning to rise. James Hamil, the assistant driller, was on top of the 68-foot derrick, but the beginning of the upward move- ment of the pipe was so gradual that he had time to reach the ground before things really began to happen. Captain Lucas and the drillers stood spellbound as the movement of the casing increased in momentum. Suddenly, with a mighty heave, the casing shot into the air, carrying with it the upper works and heavy tackle of the derrick. At a height of some 500 feet above the derrick, the heavy rod, [21 PIONEERING THE GULF COAST before a strong wind, twisted, bent and came crashing to the ground, while the men scurried to safety. The remain- ing 4-inch pipe, freed of the weight of the upper portion, followed with even greater rapidity, shot through the top of the derrick. With the second section of casing, there came a gush of muddy water. This was the water with which the hole is drilled by the circulating pump when the drilling is done by the rotary method. The water was followed by a volley of rocks and fossils, and finally gas. Then came the oil, which soon settled down to a 6-inch stream spout- ing to a height of 200 or more feet, and then breaking in the wind to shower the surface of the hillock. At first the oil came at the estimated rate of 1,000 barrels an hour; then it increased to 2,000 and quickly on to 3,000 and 4,000 barrels an hour, where it remained stationary. On the third day after it had begun to gush, the discharge then carrying no solid matter and a diminished quantity of gas, officials of the Standard Oil Company and their engi- neers estimated the flow to be at least 3,000 barrels an hour, or about 75,000 barrels in 24 hours. The well is estimated to have attained a maximum flow of in the neighborhood of 100,000 barrels a day — the largest by far of any oil well ever completed in the United States. It came in January 10, 1901. Exceeding as it did even the wildest hopes of Captain Lucas, the well for ten days defied control. His first prob- lem was to devise a means to control it and of preventing the absolute waste of the oil in which he was ably sec- onded by Mr. John Gayly, his partner. In devising a method of shutting the well in, dams or levees were con- structed hastily to surround the oil. The first levee, which [22] Surfdice_ 36' \ Yef/owCfey 2,5.'] Cotirse£reySard f!4 ' . | Btut C/ay.prefty h<i rd 75' ! /faff grey quick Sctnd Vsr/ous/y colored grave / from &can to goose egg size. Coarse grey <y a i ck Sand $$'] 3/utChy Z4-' \ Coarse grey Sand witA pyrific eoncre iions. $5'.\ F//?e <grey Sand vr/M //y-ntfe , Qrey S<* -r-cf ' w.'ff! concretions and mac A Iran, ifc -• Soft Li me Stone Grey Clay and sulphuretted Ayctrogis# Gas ■-- h'&rcf 'Sands? 'one. w/fA ca/c/te deposits Grev Sard Compac i Jr&rcf Sand wit A pyrites '• •; s= Hard Sandstone 3 nd ce/careous concret/ens ' Zi 1 — Hard Sand '*? ■//A calcareous concretions White calcareous SAeffs Grey Clay Grey -Sandstone with Oil Grey day with calcareous concretions Grs y Clay ge tting Arrets r --3,-^: ~c-~'~ Calcareous' concretions with c^icHe Hard grey Clay w itA calcareous concretions* m ucA fine p yrites. 2.C : Sandstone and pyrites , pretty hard :.$. .-irrr hard R oc k , apparently Lime stone. 2.4' %. {Ftnc Oil Sand wiiA hard letter towards bo*fom and ' ^J heavy pressure under it, fit/iny casing for 100 feet j {shove point of dr/i/ing. I Hard day and Gumbo Calcareous concretions with layers of hard Sands ton e & Suiphi Struck hea vy gas pressure & Bit, which lasted for snout one hour and then subsided and nii*.ed With calcareous concretions nd marine fossils C&vern ous Dolomite OlL Commenced, Oct. 27r* 1900, Completed , Jan. 10*? ISO I PIONEERING THE GULF COAST was 2Y/2 feet in height, was overflowed in 24 hours. Suc- cessive earthen dykes were thrown up until the lake of oil covered nearly 30 acres. The oil came from the earth at a temperature of about 120 degrees Fahrenheit. It graded 23 degrees Baume and had a sulphur content of 2 to 4 per cent. The clay soil that formed the bed of the improvised reservoirs held the oil fairly well, but there was a constant danger of fire. This was accentuated by the throngs of sightseers that came first from Beaumont, three miles to the west, and later from more distant points. These, indeed, were exciting days. Captain Lucas, Alfred Hamil and their men were working like beavers to save the oil, and at the same time arranging for the control of the well. To aggravate the situation the Sabine and East Texas Railroad Company, whose embankment a quarter of a mile west of the well formed one side of the lake of oil, served notice that the oil must be removed because of danger to the tracks. The marine insurance companies likewise requested the removal of the oil that had made its way to Port Arthur and Sabine Pass, seaports sixteen miles below the well, asserting that the petroleum con- stituted a menace to shipping and threatening to revoke the insurances. A newspaper had published a statement that Captain Lucas would give $10,000 to anyone who would close the well. Consequently he was flooded with offers. But he realized that the solution of the problem rested with him and his men, so he did not wait for someone to come in and conquer the well for him. It required ten days to con- struct out of steel rails a carriage on which to pass an 8-inch gate valve over the 6-inch stream. It was necessary [24] PIONEERING THE GULF COAST to have the gate valve and its carriage extremely heavy in order to withstand the terrific pressure of the oil. It was at 10 o'clock on the morning of the tenth day after the well had been brought in that preparations were made to put the gate valve in place. With the aid of a block and tackle, horses were used to drag the valve and its heavy anchorage up to the geyser of oil. As the valve, which was open, began to cut into the stream, the diverted force of the oil began to make itself felt on the derrick, already badly shaken. The derrick began to rock. Captain Lucas recalls seizing one of the fossils from the ground and throwing it at the horses to urge them to greater speed. Had the derrick come tumbling down, it would have meant starting the work of closing the well ALFRED HAMIL SEARCHING FOR GAS ESCAPES IN CUBA [25] PIONEERING THE GULF COAST all over again after the wreckage had been removed — aside from the danger of poisonous gases and injury to those engaged in the work. But fortunately the derrick held. Finally the valve was in position, the stream of oil, again unimpeded, shooting up through it. Then the valve was screwed tightly to the 8-inch casing. The valve, securely anchored, was closed without difficulty and the wildest of wild gushers was tamed. 26 METHOD EMPLOYED TO CLOSE THE LUCAS GUSHER Chapter IV RECOGNITION Congratulations from those who discouraged project — the Spindle Top boom — then solid prosperity. Newspaper services heralded throughout the world the triumph of Captain Lucas. So unexpected was his suc- cess and so far-reaching promised to be its result, that it was one of the greatest news sensations in years. The day after the completion of the well came a telegram from Mr. Paine extending to Captain Lucas the warmest con- gratulations and promising to come at once to see the new wonder. Little did he and Dr. Hayes suspect, however, that their previous discouraging attitude had contributed largely toward diminishing the pioneer financial reward. Their adverse advice had played a part toward putting Captain Lucas in a state of mind that had made it possible for the Guffey interests to drive a harder bargain than otherwise might have been the case. Mr. Guffey, in financing the undertaking, had organized, with Andrew Mellon, of Pittsburgh, the J. M. Guffey Petroleum Company, with a capital of $15,000,000. The gusher was completed, however, at a cost of less than $6,000. The capital soon was increased to a much larger amount, and the title of the company later was changed to the Gulf Refining Company. The Mellon interests still are dominant in the great organization. Among the early arrivals at the well was Mr. Cullinan. He plunged into the midst of things and became a large factor in the development of Spindle Top and other fields [28 1 PIONEERING THE GULF COAST that followed it. The Texas Company, of which he was the first president, was the outgrowth of his efforts. From the ends of the earth, lured by the prospects of quick fortunes, came the adventurers, promoters and speculators along with those who desired to take a legiti- mate part in the development of the newly discovered store of wealth. The boom perhaps was the greatest ever seen in the United States, eclipsing even those of Bir- mingham and Cripple Creek. Land values, leases and options leaped skyward. Although the productive area proved to be only about 300 acres, of which the Guffey company had obtained through Captain Lucas 220 acres, the speculative frenzy was not limited by acreage. Before the advent of the well, common prairie land in the locality was valued at about $5 an acre. Then up MEDAL PRESENTED TO CAPTAIN LUCAS BY THE BOARD OF TRADE ASSOCIATION OF BEAUMONT, TEX. 29 PIONEERING THE GULF COAST it went through the hundreds and into the thousands — and then into the hundreds of thousands. It is asserted that one acre within the proven field sold for $100,000. It is stated that a New York broker stood in the Crosby House at Beaumont one night after the productive area had been rather well defined and offered $100,000 cash for any acre of proven ground in the Spindle Top field — and was laughed at. So rapidly did prices advance that options on land, no matter where located, were dealt in extensively. Women as well as men participated in this method of speculation. The option was held a few days and then disposed of, sometimes at great profit. Companies almost innumerable were organized, with capitalization aggregating millions upon millions. Other wells were started as soon after the completing of the Lucas well as leases and drilling material could be ob- tained. Most of these were by boom companies hastening to complete gusher wells in order that they might dispose of their stock at high prices. The fact that there were no pipe lines or other facilities for marketing the oil, cut no figure with them. The gushers were merely for exhibition and advertising purposes. By the late summer of 1901 more than a dozen wells had been completed, but the Guffey company was the only one that had made any serious effort to arrange for the marketing of its output. This organization was then running a 6-inch pipe line to Port Arthur, Texas, and had started the construction of a tank farm at Lucas Station. One writer asserts that immediately after the completion of the Lucas well every acre of land within 30 miles of it was leased. This frenzied speculation continued until a well off the Spindle Top Dome came in dry. Then prices [30] PIONEERING THE GULF COAST of outside acreage went down with a thump and the boom was broken. The 80 acres or so of productive land on the dome that was not held by the Guffey company was subdivided into lots of from one to five acres. Quarter acres even sold for from $50,000 to $100,000. Because of the enormous cash offers for fractions of acres, and again because no provi- sion had been made to dispose of the oil that was so willing to gush from the earth, it appeared to speculators to be more profitable to sell their small leases than to drill on them. Tracts as small as 25 by 25 feet changed hands. Some of the leases only afforded sufficient room for the erection of a derrick — and it was necessary to obtain surface rights from a neighboring leaser on which to place the boiler plant. And each of these tiny leases formed the only asset of some boom company that was capitalized for at least $1,000,000. Captain Lucas recalls an instance in which four com- panies, each capitalized at $1,000,000, owned jointly a tract 45 by 45 feet. The companies contributed equally to a fund for drilling a well in the center of the lot, each owning a one-fourth interest in the production. The well was completed and each company was enabled to adver- tise its stock in full-page displays in the eastern papers, hinging the advertising upon the ownership of gusher wells at Spindle Top. Such proceedings continued until the supply of stock was exhausted or until the collapse of the boom took the edge off speculative fervor. When the Spindle Top excitement was at its height, excursions were run from New York, St. Louis, New Orleans, Galveston and other cities. These excursions, of course, were conducted by the speculators and stock PIONEERING THE GULF COAST promoters. Trainloads of would-be millionaires arrived wearing gaudy badges inscribed "All is Well in Beaumont." And a dozen wells would be set to spouting away for their entertainment. Wagers even were laid as to which well was spouting the highest. President McKinley, then on a visit to the West, was invited to Beaumont and a com- mittee was organized to arrange to have the greatest possi- ble number of wells spouting for the occasion — but the President very wisely declined the invitation. The city of Beaumont, which successively had been known as a cattle, lumber and rice-growing center, sud- denly became famed as an oil metropolis. The city in succession had had its cattle, lumber and rice kings. It so happened that shortly after the completion of the Lucas well, the rice growers of the locality met in Beaumont — and the rice king, meeting Captain Lucas, protested that he no longer could lay claim to the crown, so the dis- coverer of Spindle Top became Beaumont's oil king. Now that Beaumont has passed the zenith of its glory as an oil town, it has become, with the deepening of the Neches River, also a great shipbuilding center. Hotel facilities at Beaumont were far from adequate to take care of the throngs that were attracted by the oil boom. Many persons were unable to find accommoda- tions either for eating or sleeping. Travel-weary transients slept on billiard tables, in barber chairs and even in bath tubs — and paid handsomely for the privilege. But the crowd was happy. Money was plentiful. And the boom, as are all booms, was expected to last indefinitely. All sorts of fantastic schemes were evolved for capital- izing the situation. A physician gave up his practice in Washington, D.C., settled in Beaumont and conceived [33] PIONEERING THE GULF COAST the brilliant idea of organizing a salvage company. Capi- tal $1,000,000 — that seemed to be the favorite amount. His idea was to gather the oil that the gushers were wast- ing and hold the oil in storage until it was marketable. Accordingly he proceeded to organize the company and market the stock. The company constructed enormous earthen storage tanks and drained into them through ditches oil that otherwise might have been wasted. He succeeded in storing millions of barrels of oil. But a year later when he was negotiating for the sale of the oil, the petroleum and tanks were attached by a group of oil-well owners. The salvage company could not prove owner- ship— and another million-dollar company was dissolved. More than one spectacular fire was caused by the immense quantities of oil held in earthen storage at Spindle Top, as well as by the crowding of derricks on the dome. This was one of the worst fears of Captain Lucas (as well as the railway and steamship insurance com- panies) from the time the initial gusher began to splatter the surrounding territory with oil. One of the most serious conflagrations occurred on March 3, 1901, less than two months after the discovery. Captain Lucas estimates that 800,000 barrels of oil went up in flames, as well as all the stores and the houses of the Guffey company workmen and all the derricks and drilling rigs. The destruc- tion, great as it was, would have been greater had it not been that the wind was favorable for fighting the fire. When it was realized that there was no possibility of saving the lake of oil, Captain Lucas ordered a counter conflagration started. When the two walls of flame met there was a terrific explosion which threw the blazing oil high into the air and shook the earth. The Lucas well [34] PIONEERING THE GULF COAST was not damaged, it having been covered with a great sand heap as a precaution against just such an occurrence. 