Cottle No.1, First Gas Well in Shackelford County
Moran, Shackelford County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The appearance in 1908 of oil and gas in water wells in this vicinity prompted the Texas Company (later Texaco, Inc.) in June 1909 to begin leasing large tracts of land. After a surface geological survey, a wooden derrick complete with cable tools and steam engine was erected by contractor F. J. Winston on a prospective location on the Jim Cottle Ranch and on September 23, 1909, drilling operations began. Equipment breakdowns were frequent and sometimes lengthy, but finally, on November 9, 1910, after 13 months of drilling, the Cottle No. 1 struck natural gas at a depth of 2660 feet. This discovery opened the Moran field, and was the first commercial gas well completed in this vast West Texas area. In the spring of 1911, gas was piped to Moran for residential and business use. Within two years (in 1913) the cities of Albany, Cisco, and Abilene were supplied for the first time with natural gas. By October 1913, with five producing gas wells, the Moran field won recognition as one of the most important sources of fossil fuels in Texas. Although the Cottle No. 1 was plugged years ago, Moran field continues to be an economic mainstay in this area. Marker Sponsors: Citizens of Moran. (1974)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When oil and gas began seeping into water wells here in 1908, the Texas Company (later Texaco) leased large tracts and, after a geological survey, raised a wooden derrick on the Jim Cottle Ranch. Drilling began in September 1909, and after thirteen months of frequent breakdowns the Cottle No. 1 struck gas at 2,660 feet in November 1910—the first commercial gas well in the vast West Texas area. Within three years the discovery was piping natural gas to Moran, Albany, Cisco, and Abilene.
Why it matters
This well opened the Moran field and brought natural gas to West Texas towns, a founding chapter in the region's rise as a major American energy producer.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
At the start of the twentieth century, Texas was entering the petroleum age. The famous Spindletop gusher near Beaumont in 1901 had shown the world that Texas held huge reserves of oil, and new companies formed almost overnight to go after it. One of them was the Texas Company, later known around the world as Texaco.
West Texas was still ranch country then, with wide grasslands, scattered small towns, and a few railroad stops. No one yet knew how much oil and gas lay beneath it. Evidence often came by accident, as it did here. In 1908, oil and gas began appearing in local water wells, and to a ranch family that was a nuisance. To an oil company it was a promising sign.
Drilling at that time was slow, hard, mechanical work. Cable-tool rigs drilled by lifting a heavy bit and dropping it again and again to pound their way through rock. A steam engine supplied the power, and a tall wooden derrick held up the whole operation. Reaching thousands of feet could take months, and every breakdown meant waiting for parts and repairs far from any city.
People & events
The water-well discoveries brought the Texas Company to the area, and in June 1909 it began leasing large tracts of land. After a surface geological survey, the company chose a site on the Jim Cottle Ranch. Contractor F. J. Winston put up a wooden derrick with cable tools and a steam engine, and drilling started on September 23, 1909.
What followed was a test of patience. Equipment broke down often, and some breakdowns lasted a long time. Months passed while the crew pounded deeper into the earth. Then on November 9, 1910, more than thirteen months after the work began, the Cottle No. 1 struck natural gas at 2,660 feet. The well opened the Moran field and became the first commercial gas well completed in that vast stretch of West Texas.
The gas was soon in use. By spring 1911 it was piped into Moran for homes and businesses. In 1913, Albany, Cisco, and Abilene received natural gas for the first time. By October of that year the field had five producing gas wells and was recognized as one of the most important sources of fossil fuel in Texas.
Its place in the American story
The Cottle No. 1 belongs to the much larger story of how energy reshaped America in the early twentieth century. Natural gas piped into homes meant cleaner heat and cooking than wood or coal. For small Western towns it was a step into modern life. When Abilene, Cisco, and Albany got gas lines in 1913, people's daily routines in those places changed noticeably.
The well was also an early sign of what West Texas would become. In the decades that followed, the region turned into one of the great energy-producing areas of the United States, and later booms drew national attention to fields across the region. The Moran field came before much of that. It showed that this ranch country held real underground wealth worth the long, difficult work of reaching it.
The story also follows the growth of the Texas Company from a young firm in the years after Spindletop into a major American oil company. Its search for new fields took it into places like Shackelford County, and the risks it took on wells like this one helped build the modern energy industry.
If you visit
The Cottle No. 1 itself was plugged long ago, so don't expect a working derrick. What you'll find is the landscape that made the story, which is open ranch country that looks much as it did when a crew hauled in a steam engine and wooden timbers and started drilling into the unknown.
As you stand there, picture the work: the steady thump of the cable tool, the hiss of the steam engine, and more than a year of breakdowns and repairs before the payoff. The marker was sponsored by the citizens of Moran, which tells you how much the town still values the discovery that helped sustain it.
Moran makes a good stop on a West Texas back-roads trip, and it connects easily to Albany, Cisco, and Abilene, the towns this well first supplied with natural gas. Driving the route between them traces the reach of that 1910 discovery and lets you see how one well on a ranch helped light up a whole region.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · Jim Cottle
Related events
- · Opening of the Moran field
Themes & tags
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