The discovery of the East Texas field, which soon covered a large area, led to a decline in the price of oil. After much struggle—some verbal and other physical—the field was put under martial law by Governor Ross Sterling in August, 1931. The reason for the struggle—the desire of some to reduce the amount of production and divide it among the producers—was solved as the Texas Legislature gave the Railroad Commission authority to ration production.
A number of major fields were discovered in the 1930’s, mostly in West Texas and along the Gulf Coast.
The next sensational discovery, however, came in 1948 in Scurry and adjoining counties. The discovery well in this field was brought in on November 21, 1948. This led to further exploration and further discoveries of oil in West Texas.
In 1953, the Neches Field in Anderson and Cherokee Counties was discovered. It has been labeled a major field.
Another area of oil development in Texas has been the so-called “tidelands”, the submerged lands under the Gulf of Mexico to the three-league limit. Production in the tidelands began as early as 1940 but drilling exploration has never developed to the desired extent. One reason has been the controversy between the United States and Texas over the ownership of the tidelands. After some litigation, Congress passed a law in 1953 placing ownership of the “tidelands” in the hands of Texas. Until then, Texas had claimed land out to the outer edge of the continental shelf, an average of about 85 miles.
In another area of petroleum development, the first oil discovery on University of Texas land makes an interesting story. A stubborn professor and a broken-down wagon played key roles.
In the early 1920’s, the governing body of The University of Texas decided to sell the University’s vast land endowment in West Texas. The late Dr. J. A. Udden, then director of the Bureau of Economic Geology and a renowned scholar, protested the sale and insisted that the land had possibilities for mineral development.
To prove his point, he located a site to drill an oil well and made arrangements for the drilling. When the drilling rig was being transported to the location, the wagon on which it was carried broke down and was extensively damaged. It was decided to drill at the site of the breakdown. On May 28, 1923, oil was discovered there.
The well was named Santa Rita and was the discovery well for the Big Lake field in Reagan County.
Ironically enough, a well was drilled later at Dr. Udden’s original location. It was a dry hole.