Moorhead Cable Tool Rig
Kermit, Winkler County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Last wooden oil derrick in U.S. to retire from daily use. Drilled Moorhead No. 1 well on Chapman-McAlvane lease, Loving County. Has bull wheels and rig irons of type not made since 1920s. However, in its day it made deep drilling possible. Pump was steam-driven until 1942, when 4-cylinder gasoline engine began to run the "Yo-Yo" wheels and walking beam. Well was put on electric pump, 1966. Given by R. O. Moorhead to city of Kermit, as a Permian Basin oil empire history exhibit, rig was moved 35 miles to this site without being dismantled. (1966)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This wooden cable-tool rig was the last of its kind in the United States to retire from daily use, its bull wheels and rig irons of a type not manufactured since the 1920s. It drilled the Moorhead No. 1 well in Loving County, powered first by steam, then by a gasoline engine that ran its 'Yo-Yo' wheels and walking beam, before the well went electric in 1966. That year R. O. Moorhead gave it to Kermit as a Permian Basin oil-history exhibit, moved 35 miles fully intact.
Why it matters
It preserves the vanishing technology of early wooden-derrick drilling that opened the Permian Basin, one of the great oil provinces of American industry.
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Related people
- · R. O. Moorhead
Themes & tags
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