Joiner No. 3 Daisy Bradford
Henderson, Rusk County, Texas
Marker Inscription
East Texas Oil Field Discovery Well. Discovery genius was C. M. (Dad) Joiner, 70-year-old Oklahoman who for years believed there was oil in Rusk County. Driller was E. C. Laster. Crew: Dennis May, Dave Cherry, Glenn Pool, Jim Lambert and Dave Hughes. Joiner's 2 early efforts failed-- one with a jammed bit, one with the drill pipe stuck. The rig was next skidded 300' down slope. "This is as good a place as any," said Laster. Then on May 8, 1929, Joiner No. 3 Daisy Bradford was spudded in. Equipment consisted of an old rotary rig powered by a single-cylinder engine; one 45 hp boiler; one old cotton gin boiler fired with soggy oak and pine chunks by roustabout Dan Tanner. The depression was on, and money scarce. The crew often went without pay. Joiner sacrificed much of his 10,000 acre block of leases. Finally, on Sept. 5, 1930, a drill stem logged at 3536' into the Woodbine Formation showed oil. A better rig had to be brought in. On Oct. 3, 1930, the well blew in and oil went over the crown block. The boom was on. Cars were bumper-to-bumper on all access roads. Derricks rose in all directions. In its first 30 years, this great field produced more than 3.5 billion barrels of oil. It now covers some 200 square miles-- the largest in the world.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
On this slope in 1930, 70-year-old Oklahoma wildcatter C. M. "Dad" Joiner brought in the discovery well of the vast East Texas Oil Field with a patched-together rig and a crew that often went unpaid through the Depression. After earlier failures, driller E. C. Laster shrugged "this is as good a place as any," and the Daisy Bradford No. 3 blew in that October, sending oil over the crown block. The strike touched off a frenzied boom, with cars bumper-to-bumper and derricks rising in every direction.
Why it matters
Joiner's well opened what became the largest oil field in the world, reshaping the American economy and cementing Texas as a global energy giant.
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Related people
- · C. M. Joiner
- · E. C. Laster
Related events
- · Discovery of the East Texas Oil Field, 1930
Themes & tags
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