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well was drilled in 1866. It was 550 feet (168 metres) deep and
produced 15 to 20 barrels (about 2 to 3 cubic metres) a day. It was
considered a great success and prompted the drilling of many more
wells. Oil and gas production provided much of California's energy.

THE LUCAS WELL, 1901
Before long, almost everyone in the U.S. came to depend on
oil as a plentiful and inexpensive source of energy. Individuals and
companies were drilling wells all over the country. Virtually anywhere
entrepreneurs could erect a rig, they were drilling an oilwell. Texas
was no exception.
The area around Beaumont, Texas is flat, coastal plain country.
When something interrupts the flatness, people tend to notice.
Consequently, practically everyone in late nineteenth-century
Beaumont knew about Big Hill. Big Hill, whose formal name was
Spindletop, was a dome rising about 15 feet (4.5 metres) above the
surrounding plain. Enough gas seeped out of the dome that a lighted
match easily ignited it.
One person particularly fascinated by Spindletop was Patillo
Higgins, a self-taught geologist who lived in the region. He was
convinced that oil and gas lay below Spindletop about 1,000 feet (300
metres) deep. Around 1890, Higgins obtained land on top of the dome
and, with several financial partners, drilled two unsuccessful wells.
The problem was that at about 350 feet (100 metres), the bit
encountered a thick sand formation that the drillers called "running
quicksand."
The sand was so loose it caved into the drilled hole to make
further drilling impossible. Drillers ran casing, just as Drake had,
attempting to combat the cave-in. The formation was so bad; however,
that it crushed the casing. Discouraged, but still certain that oil lay
below Spindletop, Higgins put out the word that he would lease the
property to anyone willing to drill a 1,000-foot (300-metre) test well.

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