Cherokee County History Page: 19
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ton's enthusiasm encouraged others to continue the search for oil in
East Texas. One of the inspired, C. M. "Dad" Joiner, soon discov-
ered the giant East Texas Field.
In the general area of Colliton "dry hole paradise," as oilmen
came to call the area, Lone Star came into the oil production scene
with a small field in the Woodbine Sand producing level. The field
was not a strong producing one, but in 1957 new production from
the Pettit level spurred hopes of a major producing field. It never
materialized on a paying commercial scale. Most of the wells in
both flurries were "pumpers."
The Lone Star Fields produced 878,051 barrels of oil in the
1939-1960 period before operations were abandoned, according to
Railroad Commission of Texas records.
The first successful oil exploration in Cherokee County came
about when Humble Oil and Refining Co. (now Exxon USA), joined
by the Rio Bravo Oil Co., secured a block of leases near Cary Lake
and began drilling in 1927. The Earle-Ragsdale No. 1 well indicated
a showing of oil. The Elliott-Clark No. 1 came in as an oil producer,
but it soon turned to salt water. The T. H. Jones No. 1 was a
disappointment, but the Lizzie Smith No. 1 and the Jones No. 2
were producers. None of these wells was an outstanding producer
but on July 2, 1928, the A. B. Mandelstam No. 2 as well as the
Mandelstam No. 1 came in at an estimated capacity of 8,000 to
10,000 barrels daily. That established firmly the Boggy Creek field.
Oil was found on both sides of the Neches River, but the field
encompassed only a small area. In spite of its diminutive size,
several "firsts" in oil exploration and production are associated
with the Boggy Creek field. Shortly after the first flowing well was
discovered, seismic work proved the existence of a salt dome and
indicated that salt domes accompanied oil reserves. That observa-
tion was proved on a larger scale in the East Texas field discovery.
Humble Oil and Refining Co. owned the entire structure and was
able to experiment with regulated production. A report from the
Railroad Commission of Texas in 1929 stated that the field was
operated better than any other pool in Texas. Producing oil
through tubing was first used in the Boggy Creek oil field, and the
technique gave better control of production rates. Accumulated
knowledge of gas-oil ratios and bottom hole pressure helped deter-
mine the best well-by-well rate of production. Some of the wells
maintained a back pressure of 1,000 pounds, which resulted in
greater oil recovery. The wells were connected by pipe lines with a
refinery opened at Todd City in October, 1929, with a daily capac-
ity of 5,000 barrels.
Discovery of the giant East Texas field in 1930 eclipsed interest
in the Cary Lake oil field. The refinery in Anderson County was
closed May 1, 1942, and by 1945 the Boggy Creek field was almost
inoperative. Then in 1950, Humble Oil and Refining Co. located a
larger field to the south of Cary Lake, started drilling in 1952, and
found oil at about 5,000 feet. Again, the field straddled the Neches
River and extended about three miles in length. A new refinery,
built northwest of Ironton, was put in production in late 1953. After
30 years, the field is still producing substantially.
More recently gas and oil production has been discovered near
Tecula, Alto, Larissa, Mixon, White Oak Creek, Reklaw, Gallatin,
and Rusk. Total Cherokee County crude oil production in 1982 was
1,292,736 barrels. Until 1983, the county's total production was
55,201,785 barrels.
In 1976, anticipating crude oil and natural gas depletion and
mindful of a federal law requiring utility companies to cease using
natural gas by 1990, Exxon (under the name of Carter Oil) began
acquiring lignite-rich mineral leases in Rusk, Smith, and northeast
Cherokee Counties. Lying beneath the 35,000 acre land block are
two seams of coal: one layer 4-8 feet thick near the surface, and a
deeper deposit averaging about 250 feet in thickness.
Carload samples of the lignite were sent to South Africa in
1979-80 for testing. Based on the experiment's success, Exxon
proposed to erect a $3-4 billion gasification plant southeast of
Troup near the center of the 500-million-ton lignite reserve. Engi-
neers at Lurgi Kohle and Mineraloelteclnik of Frankfurt, Ger.,
were engaged to design a plant that would require 5,000 people toOne of the early attempts to discover oil in Cherokee County was drilled
in the fall of 1925 and the spring of 1926 on the L. F. Hill farm near Alto.
The drill site was picked by a spiritualist in a seance, but the well came in
a dry hole. Timber for the rig, above, was cut from the forest on the farm
and sawed and milled on the site. Decades later, oil and natural gas were
found in the Alto area and production continues today. - Phila Hill
Wilson Photo Collection
construct the plant and 2,000 people to operate the plant and mine.
Annually, 15 million tons of coal would be consumed to produce 320
billion BTU's of gas and 10,000 barrels of liquid daily for 30 years,
the equivalent of 60,000 barrels of oil per day. Because of an oil glut
and the downturn of the economy, Exxon USA postponed indefi-
nitely plans for the plant's construction. If the plant becomes a
reality, the benefits to the area might exceed all previous county
industry. - Bernard Mayfield.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Larson, Henrietta M. and Porter, Kenneth Wiggins, History of Humble Oil
and Refining Company, Harper Brothers, N. Y. 1959.
Roach, Hattie Joplin, The Hills of Cherokee, 1952.
Cherokee County Program Building Committee, Long-Range Extension Pro-
gram, 1982
Jacksonville Daily Progress, April 5, 1964.
Cherokee County Deed Records
Cherokee County Commissioners Court Records.
Wilson, Phila Hill, "An Account of Oil-well Drilling on the L. F Hill Farm in
1925."
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Cherokee County Historical Commission (Tex.). Cherokee County History, book, 2001; Jacksonville, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth354360/m1/29/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Cherokee County Historical Commission.