Santa Rita #1
"Patron Saint of the Impossible"
Texon, Texas
SANTA RITA OIL WELL. Santa Rita No. 1,
located in Section 2, Block 2, University of Texas lands in Reagan
County, came in on May 28, 1923
The Santa Rita #1 within site of the Memorial
Stadium on the University of Texas Campus
The Santa Rita #1 as it looks today. October
26th 2001
Frank T. Pickrell, who had no experience in oil, considered himself
lucky to have hired an experienced driller, Carl Cromwell, for fifteen
dollars a day and stock in the company. Cromwell moved his family to the
lonely drilling site beside the tracks of the Orient Railroad. For 646
days the cable-tool rig pounded, and the two-man crew bailed the hole.
They averaged only 4.7 feet a day. Late on May 27, 1923, the bit drilled
into the dolomitic sands, called "Big Lime," just above the 3,050-foot
level. Cromwell shut down the well when he saw gas bubbles escaping from
the casing head. The driller and his tool dresser, Dee Locklin, were
convinced they had an oil well and left the site to lease surrounding
mineral acreage while the discovery was yet unknown.
This was the first major discovery of oil in West Texas. It
made a rich school of the University of Texas. The original
"walking beam" is located on the University of Texas campus is
Austin, Texas.
More Information
Santa Rita #1 is located in Texon, Texas. No there is
nothing in Texon. Texon is 13 miles west of Big Lake, Texas on
U.S. 67. (The lake is dry) Where is Big Lake? It's 70
miles west of San Angelo, Texas on U.S. 67.
The Santa Rita #1 was recently featured in the movie, "The
Rookie"
Kansas City Orient Railroad adjacent to the well
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