A giant was born
when “Buckskin” found gold.
Back in 1901 in Southeast Texas, when “water
was 10 cents a glass and oil was 3 cents a barrel,”
it made quite a stir when Captain A.F. Lucas drilled a hole
on the dry, barren soil of Spindletop Hill and black gold
shot skyward at the rate of 50,000 barrels a day. The Texas
oil rush was on big time, and among the couple hundred groups
seeking their fortune was the Texas Fuel Company, founded
by Joseph S. “Buckskin Joe” Cullinan, along
with Arnold Schlaet, a savvy financier. “Buckskin,”
as the name implies, was a rugged guy with great experience
in the Pennsylvania oil fields, and knew an opportunity
when he saw one, and Schlaet shared his dreams. Two years
later, their first big gusher came in at Sour Lake, and
the company known today as “Texaco” was off
and on its way to become one of the world’s greatest
oil companies. Today, Texaco operations and products are
found in abundance around the globe. It’s more than
“Buckskin” ever dreamed of. |
