Historic Photos of Texas Oil

by Mike Cox (Text by)

Overview

On January 10, 1901, near Beaumont, Texas, an unremarkable knoll of earth the world would soon call Spindletop shot a geyser of oil a hundred feet into the air, confirming the belief of Pattillo Higgins that black gold lay buried there. The Texas oil industry had begun in earnest, and neither Texas nor the world would ever be the same.

In the years to come, Texas oil would fuel the nation’s automobiles and help to bring victory to the Allies in both world wars, shaping America’s destiny throughout the twentieth century.

Join author and historian Mike Cox in this photographic visit to the heyday of Texas crude as he recounts the stories of key oil-patch discoveries around the state. Nearly 200 images in vivid black-and-white, with captions and introductions, offer a roughneck-close look at this uniquely American tale of dry holes and gushers, ragtowns and riches, boomtowns, blowouts, and wildcatters gone broke.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781684420865
Publisher:	TURNER PUB CO
Publication date:	08/01/2009
Series:	Historic Photos
Pages:	202
Sales rank:	410,187
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 8.60(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

An elected member of the Texas Institute of Letters, Mike Cox is the author of 15 nonfiction books. Over a freelance career of more than 40 years, he has also written hundreds of articles and essays for a wide variety of publications. The Texas Rangers: Wearing the Cinco Peso, 1821-1900 (2008) received excellent reviews and has been a best-seller among books about the Old West. Historic Photos of Texas Lawmen is his latest book, released by Turner Publishing Company in recent months.
A former award-winning reporter, Cox was a longtime spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety and later communications manager for the Texas Department of Transportation before retiring in 2007.
These days Cox devotes full time to his freelance writing, while finding time to work in a little fishing and hunting. He lives in Austin with his wife and daughter.