A century ago, in a place where most people eked out a living from subsistence agriculture, a discovery was made that within a year would make them richer than they had ever dared to dream, and eventually bring millions of people out of poverty.
The place was near a small town called Beaumont in east Texas.
The discovery was crude oil – lots of it.
The find had nothing whatever to do with governments local, state, or federal.
No environmental studies were demanded before anyone could drill.
No legal requirement to consult the locals.
It was a simple willing-buyer willing-seller process.
Simple process
The owners of land sold it and the right to drill beneath it to someone willing to pay the price they wanted.
After a minimal amount of paper work drilling proceeded.
There were no large corporations involved, so none of their bureaucracies, and no Green protesters waving placards.
Nor was it a case of swindlers with insider knowledge duping poor landowners.
Everyone knew oil was there – it oozed up in some places.
It was used for decades as a lubricant of wagon wheels and caulking for canoes.
The find at Beaumont was dubbed “Spindletop” after the rock and salt formation that capped it.
Oil had been found before elsewhere in the US, but none as spectacular.
Spindletop was a gusher.
It was also different in other ways.
The drill used was a new rotary type. It was more efficient and could dig deeper.
When it reached 3 000 metres, oil came out with such force that it reached a height of 30m.
It took nine days to tame it during which time it spewed out almost a million barrels worth (159 million litres).
Nothing like it had ever been seen.
Thousands gathered to observe it.
Thousands more rushed to Beaumont to seek their fortune.
Beaumont’s population rose from 10 000 to 50 000.
Land values rose dramatically.
Poor farmers took the money and moved or began selling produce to the flood of newcomers.
Within months, there was a virtual forest of drilling rigs nearby, and hundreds of workers with money in their pockets.
It was the beginning of the Texas oil boom and the start of a new age.
The discovery led to an oil industry that today is a byword for capitalism and the bête noire communists and socialists love to hate.
The Spindletop discovery was a perfect example of free market forces at work.
The hunt for oil was spurred by growing consumer demand.
The US population was skyrocketing, and so was the demand for kerosene.
Pollution in cities was rising and winter smog killed thousands.
A clean fuel was needed.
Oil provided it.
It was the market at work.
Such was the size of Spindletop that major oil companies came into being.
Chevron is one such that owes its genesis to Spindletop.
Keith Bryer is a retired communications consultant.