AUTHOR'S NOTE
I remember, when I was a teenager in the early 1960s, traveling with my granddad to Albany to do some camping and fishing. To get there from Austin, not that I paid much attention to maps in those days, we had to drive through Breckenridge. Even as a kid, I was struck by the fact that it boasted such a tall building for such a small town. That's because Breckenridge used to be a wild and woolly oil boom town, my granddad told me. And then, inveterate story teller that he was, he went on to regale me with his recollections of the oil boom days in West Texas. The reason he knew so much about it is because he was there. As a young reporter, he covered the Ranger oil boom in 1917. He worked for a long-defunct oil field newspaper based in Fort Worth, and also later was city editor of the also defunct Fort Worth Press.
Listening to Granddad's stories, it wasn't too hard for me to imagine what it had been like in those early days of oil exploration and production in West Texas. Thanks to that early introduction, I've been interested in Texas oil and gas ever since. Alas, the only money I've ever made off hydrocarbons in Texas is from writing about them, but at least it's been fun.
In researching and writing this book, my only frustration was in not being able to tell the story of Texas's rich petroleum industry history in as much depth as I would have liked. There are enough good stories, and fascinating characters, to fill a multi-volume set of books. So, in reading this book, please keep in mind that it is only what I hope you will find to be an interesting overview of the industry story in Texas.
Finally, I'd like to thank Beverly Waak, a long-time reader and lover of books who grew up in the refinery community of Baytown. She graciously read the manuscript for this book, gently pointing out typos, errors and areas needing clarification. She also took the author's photo. Truly, when I met Beverly, I struck it rich.
Here's hoping you enjoy this exploration of the industry that helped build Texas and is still at it today.
Mike Cox
Austin, Texas
