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Texas Boomtowns: A History of Blood and Oil
On January 10, 1901, Beaumont awoke to the historic roar of the Spindletop gusher. A flood of frantic fortune seekers heard its call and quickly descended on the town. Over the next three decades, Texas's first oil rush transformed the sparsely populated rural state practically beyond recognition. Brothels, bordellos and slums overran sleepy towns, and thick, black oil spilled over once-green pastures. While dreams came true for a precious few, most settled for high-risk, dangerous jobs in the oilfields and passed what spare time they had in the vice districts fueled by crude. From the violent shanties of Desdemona and Mexia to Borger and beyond, wildcat speculators, grifters and barons took the land for all it was worth. Author Bartee Haile explores the story of these wild and wooly boomtowns.
154 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 30, 2015
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November 18, 2018
When I was in 5th grade we had a project: place identifiers and sources of wealth and income on a map in Texas and draw well known sites. There were longhorns for the cattle industry, cotton bolls near Lubbock, the Alamo in San Antonio and.......oil derricks in several sites.
Now, even some 50 years later I had no idea of the story behind those oil derricks; all the crime and lawlessness that happened in the oil Boomtowns: Ranger, Desdemona, Media, Borger. Fortunes made and lost, hopes dashed or success and wealth found.
Bartee Haile tells the story of the oil hurricane that hit Texas and made millionaires. He also tells of martial law invoked by Texas Governors to quell crime, prostitution, gambling dens, dope sellers, political corruption, and every other vice you could think of that accompanied the gushers. The National Guard and the Texas Rangers were tasked to enforced these orders.
A book like this is my kind of book; one that gives you a slice of Texas history. The photographs are fantastic and driving around Texas now, just seeing the oil pumpers, it’s hard to believe that oil derricks were once there. I have no idea how oil drilling works these days, be it on land or off shore, but just a paragraph or two of where the oil industry is today (for comparison) would have been nice. But maybe that’s another book?
Thank you, Bartee Haile, for teaching me something I did not know about my home state!
Now, even some 50 years later I had no idea of the story behind those oil derricks; all the crime and lawlessness that happened in the oil Boomtowns: Ranger, Desdemona, Media, Borger. Fortunes made and lost, hopes dashed or success and wealth found.
Bartee Haile tells the story of the oil hurricane that hit Texas and made millionaires. He also tells of martial law invoked by Texas Governors to quell crime, prostitution, gambling dens, dope sellers, political corruption, and every other vice you could think of that accompanied the gushers. The National Guard and the Texas Rangers were tasked to enforced these orders.
A book like this is my kind of book; one that gives you a slice of Texas history. The photographs are fantastic and driving around Texas now, just seeing the oil pumpers, it’s hard to believe that oil derricks were once there. I have no idea how oil drilling works these days, be it on land or off shore, but just a paragraph or two of where the oil industry is today (for comparison) would have been nice. But maybe that’s another book?
Thank you, Bartee Haile, for teaching me something I did not know about my home state!
Displaying 1 of 1 review