Oil in Texas: The Gusher Age, 1895-1945

The dramatic story of the oil boom that transformed the history of a state, drawn from archives and first-person accounts.

As the twentieth century began, oil in Texas was easy to find, but the quantities were too small to attract industrial capital and production. Then, on January 10, 1901, the Spindletop gusher blew in. Over the next fifty years, oil transformed Texas, creating a booming economy that built cities, attracted out-of-state workers and companies, funded schools and universi...