Santa Rita No. 1
Big Lake, Reagan County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Discovery well for Big Lake oil field. First gusher in Permian Basin; first University of Texas producer. On land once thought almost worthless. Fruit of the faith of Big Lake lawyer Rupert Ricker. Though in 1919 no oil had been found within 100 miles, Ricker got leases on 431,360 acres of University of Texas land in Crockett, Irion, Reagan and Upton counties. Soon working with him were P. G. Stokes, Big Spring; Frank Pickrell and Haymon Krupp, El Paso; and others. Their wildcat well, 1/2 mile south of this site, on Ollie Parker's Ranch, was drilled by Carl Cromwell. Dee Locklin was tool dresser. Slow and hard drilling made crew name well for Santa Rita, Patronness of the Impossible. 4 years, 2 months and a day after permit was filled, and at 3,055 feet, well pressure tossed the rig's bucket high into the air. Santa Rita was a producer, the date was May 28, 1923. This day the Permian Basin, since acclaimed one of the greatest oil regions in the world, had its first big find. Other spectacular fields were to follow. Multi-millions in royalty dollars have since made the University of Texas one of the world's most heavily endowed schools. Original rig that brought in Santa Rita now is on the university campus.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
On land long dismissed as nearly worthless, Big Lake lawyer Rupert Ricker gambled in 1919 on leasing hundreds of thousands of acres of University of Texas land—even though no oil had been found within 100 miles. His partners' wildcat well, drilled by Carl Cromwell and named for Santa Rita, the patroness of the impossible, finally blew in on May 28, 1923. It was the first great strike of the Permian Basin.
Why it matters
Santa Rita No. 1 launched one of the world's greatest oil regions and, through its royalties, made the University of Texas one of the most heavily endowed schools on earth.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
In the years around World War I, Texas was already an oil state. The Spindletop gusher near Beaumont in 1901 had launched a boom along the Gulf Coast, and other strikes followed across the state. The vast dry country of West Texas, though, was considered poor prospecting ground. It was ranch land with sparse grass, little water and wide horizons, and as the marker notes, in 1919 no oil had been found within 100 miles of this spot.
Much of that land belonged to the University of Texas. When Texas set aside land to support a state university in the 1800s, it gave the school large tracts in the arid west, and for decades that land was valued mainly for grazing leases. The marker says it plainly: this was land once thought almost worthless.
The 1920s changed all of that. The automobile was spreading fast across America, and demand for gasoline was climbing. Wildcatters, the independent drillers who took risks on unproven ground, were pushing into new territory, and West Texas was about to show what lay beneath it.
People & events
The story starts with Rupert Ricker, a lawyer in Big Lake, and his faith in ground that almost nobody else believed in. In 1919 he secured leases on 431,360 acres of University of Texas land spread across Crockett, Irion, Reagan and Upton counties. He soon had partners: P. G. Stokes of Big Spring, and Frank Pickrell and Haymon Krupp of El Paso, among others.
Their wildcat well was drilled on Ollie Parker's ranch, half a mile south of this marker, by driller Carl Cromwell, with Dee Locklin as tool dresser. The work was slow and brutally hard. Worn down by it, the crew named the well for Santa Rita, the saint called upon as patroness of impossible causes.
The name fits the timeline. The well came in four years, two months and a day after the permit was filed. On May 28, 1923, at 3,055 feet, pressure from below threw the rig's bucket high into the air. Santa Rita No. 1 was a producer. It was the discovery well of the Big Lake field and the first gusher in the Permian Basin.
Its place in the American story
Santa Rita No. 1 opened what the marker calls one of the greatest oil regions in the world. The Permian Basin, a huge buried geological basin under West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, became one of the country's great sources of oil and gas. Other big fields soon followed, and the region's output helped power American industry, transportation and national security for the next century.
The well's effect on education may be just as lasting. Because the oil lay under University of Texas land, its royalties went to the state's university endowment. Over the years that wealth made the University of Texas one of the most heavily endowed schools in the world, and it has helped fund public higher education in Texas ever since.
There is also a very American lesson in the risk-taking. A small-town lawyer and a handful of partners bet on land the experts had dismissed, kept drilling through years of setbacks, and changed the economy of an entire region.
If you visit
Big Lake is in wide-open West Texas, and the landscape is part of the story. Look out over the flat ranchland and think about how easy it was to call this country worthless. The actual well site lies half a mile south of the marker, so this is a good place to picture a lonely wooden rig standing against that enormous sky.
You may see oilfield equipment on the drive through the area, a reminder that the industry Santa Rita started is still at work. Pumpjacks nodding in pastures are part of the Permian Basin's everyday scenery.
If your travels take you to Austin, look for the rest of the story there: according to the marker, the original rig that brought in Santa Rita now stands on the University of Texas campus. Seeing both places ties together a remote ranch well and the university it helped build.
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
- · Rupert Ricker
- · Frank Pickrell
- · Haymon Krupp
- · Carl Cromwell
Related events
- · Permian Basin oil discovery
Themes & tags
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