Lucas
gusher fever
affected so
many folks,
far and wide
By
W. T. Block
Reprinted
from Beaumont
Enterprise,
Saturday June
26, 1999.
NEDERLAND
-- A century
in retrospect,
Beaumonters
might have
real
difficulty
visualizing
what effect
the success of
the Lucas
gusher brought
to their city
during the
weeks
following Jan.
10, 1901; or
for that
matter the
effect the
gusher created
nationwide.
Even
the residents
of early
Nederland and
Port Neches
could tell
that something
was strangely
amiss, and
several rode
north on
horseback
along the
railroad
track, seeking
the solution.
The gusher
emitted a
high-pitched,
hissing sound
and an
extremely
pungent odor
that the north
wind blew
toward Port
Arthur.
The
oil geyser
seemed to have
an
intoxicating
effect on
everyone
elsewhere as
well.
Excursion
trains arrived
from several
nearby points,
loaded with
sightseers
hoping to see
the "great
spouter." And
of course half
of the
newcomers were
those
connected with
the petroleum
industry -
drillers,
financiers,
oil men,
speculators,
and lease men.
A
week earlier
Corsicana had
had a small
but
industrious
oil economy,
producing
about 1
million
barrels
annually. A
month later,
however, the
Lucas gusher
had gutted
that town’s
oil industry,
losing its
drilling rigs,
drillers,
lease men, and
others, who
boarded trains
bound for
Beaumont.
Some
wealthy
Beaumont
lumbermen just
wished the
"oil monster’
and the crowds
it attracted
would go away.
On Jan 20th,
William Wiess
"took a large
party of
prominent
Beaumont
citizens and
visitors up
Neches River
on his yacht"
to show them
the sights
bordering the
river.
Also
on Jan. 20th,
the day that
the gusher was
capped, "a
good many
Texas
legislators
have gone to
Beaumont" ...
to inquire
about buying
property and
earning
possible
profits.
And
property
prices quickly
skyrocketed,
both in the
oil field and
in town. A
vacant lot at
Main St. and
Bonham, which
had sold for
$5,000 on Jan.
2nd, was
placed on the
market on Jan.
20th for
$20,000.
By
Jan. 21st,
even Galveston
became
"intoxicated"
with Lucas
gusher fever.
Saloons there
were selling
mixed drinks
called "gusher
punch,"
"geyser
julip," and
"spouter
treat." On
that day, an
excursion
train, loaded
with 535
Galvestonians,
arrived the
day after the
well was
capped.
Galveston
Daily News of
Jan. 21, 1901
reported:
"...There
was nothing to
see except the
oily
derrick...
They (the
Galveston
visitors) went
to the outside
fence which
surrounds the
well... rushed
past the
guards ...
tore down the
fence... which
enclosed the
well. Here the
guards did
their best to
keep them
back, but
without
success...
They went over
the inner
fence, swarmed
about the
well, and some
wanted to
loose the
spouter again,
but the valve
was covered
with sand...."
Thus
the
Galvestonians
did not get to
see the gusher
spouting
skyward, but
they seemed
content to
return home
with only
sample bottles
of oil.
At
the apex of
the gusher
fever, the
Beaumont Oil
Exchange
traded the
stocks of 600
hastily
incorporated
companies, but
all but two
became
financial
flops. Only
Texaco and
Gulf Refining
Co. (later
Chevron)
survived the
boomtown
frenzy to
become major
oil companies.
W.
T. Block of
Nederland is a
historian and
author. His
website is
http://wtblock.com/wtblockjr/ This database is very large (350 articles) and
is intended as
an area
history source
for students.
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