they still have interests out in spindletop field. and so -- they really put the engine behind trying to search for this oil. and we'll go in and take a look at a couple of things, what higgins' vision was for gladys city. with the photographer plotted out the city and you can see that there was much given to gladys city oil and gas manufacturing company, there were places for homes and schools, and then what he believed would be the oil fields and manufacturing areas. if you look up there at the top, you'll see this is a picture of gladys as a child. gladys bingam. and then right next to it, you can see that the vision was more about manufacturing and industrial area than it was about oil production. i will say that after the lucas gusher came in, their stock certificates and letterhead changed very quickly to have the oil there out there in the oil field because their purpose changed very quickly when the well came in. >> why didn't this vision ever come to fruition? >> well, when you have so many people rushing in and, you know, ev

it wasn't heavy enough to drill spindletop in 1901. heavier equipment, which we call the rotary rig. the rotary rig became fairly more common in texas after 1901 because it was heavier and able to take the spindletop production. the culture and folklore of the oil industry is rampant with stories of different types of people who worked on the rig. the early cable tool guys considered themselves experts at drilling. there was a high degree of technology. it took a lot of experience in drilling with the cable tool rig. these guys were coming into texas from other parts of the country. they had gotten their start in pennsylvania and ohio and illinois. and they came in and they were very proud of the techniques and the experience that they had. the rotary drilling actually took less education to really work on those types of rigs. and these two groups of people, if one oil field was using a cable tool rig and another -- the same oil field, they had the folks there working rotary drilling, they didn't want to talk to each other. it was an a

so the spindletop field began to play out after about three or four years. the production started really dropping. so, you know, gladys city kind of remained out there and people still began to build housing, especially here in south beaumont. then by the late 1920s, we had the second boom, and with new technology they came and drilled on the perimeter of the dome which spindletop, the hill was at one time. that caused the second boom that brought new life to gladys city and to beaumont. then that kind of waned and by the 1950s, companies were mining sulfur out at the spindletop. and after that, that's when it kind of dwindled away. and people -- there was really no major production out there, the booms were over, people began moving away, moving into beaumont proper. and gladys city just kind of deteriorated. by the 1960s, there were some efforts to create a museum and make sure things were being preserved, and by the mid-70s, when they decided to build the replica of gladys city. >> hi there. i'm head of c-span's lcd project, local content vehicle. we've g

it was there when the spindletop gusher came in. they backed it up to the railroad track through earths and dikes up around it. then thought what will we do? they got between 750,000 and 1 million barrels of oil out of the well in just ten days. it was the hamill brothers that capped it. they invented a way to cap that well. it was on the tenth day that there was enough freedom from rock bursts to go ahead and clamp down what is now called a christmas tree. they are using the oil industry all over the country now. these guys invented it. they put it together. clamped it off and closed the well down then stood back and looked. there was oil everywhere. there was oil in the air. there was oil all over the ground. all over the platform. it stood up to it. it is nothing short of amazing it did. you can imagine that the rush was on. in the next two months, they drilled five more wells. i guess by april, they had five in all, and they were all gushers. what happened is that we realized how much oil truly was available. lucas worked in the

spindletop blew in at 100,000 barrels a day. that ushered in a completely new industry in texas.looking everywhere for oil. at the turn of the century, texas was primarily cotton and cattle. and that was its main production. it was an agricultural state. so almost overnight, texas was transformed into an industrialized economy based on oil. in the early part of the united states history of oil well drilling, it was pretty much used with a cable tool rig. in this particular equipment, you're taking a very heavy steel bit and it's picking it up and dropping it over and over, just like if you were on the back end of a -- had a post on the end of a seesaw and you're rocking it up and down. as the driller is controlling the drop or the rate of which that cable and that bit is dropped into the ground, they're only picking up the bit maybe 3 or 4 inches at a time and then dropping it again. this is fairly lightweight equipment. it wasn't heavy enough to drill spend ltop in 1901. they brought in heavier equipment which we call the rotary rig. the rotary rig became fairly more common in t

the spindletop field began to play out after three or four years, the production started dropping. so gladys city kind of remained out there. people still began to build housing, especially here in south beaumont. then by the late 1920s we had the second boom. what's called the yount lee boom. they came and drilled on the perimeter of the salt dome which is what spindletop, the hill was at one time. so that caused a second boom that brought new life to glad iss city and -- gladys city and to beaumont. then by -- then that kind of waned and by the 1950s, companies were mining sulfur out at the spindle top. after that, that's when it kind of dwindled away and there was no major production out there. the booms were over. people began moving away, moving into beaumont proper. and gladys city just and i can of deteriorated. by the 1960s, there were some efforts to create a museum and make sure things were being preserved. then by the mid '70s when they decided to build the replica of gladys city. >>> you've watching american history tv. all weekend, every weekend, on c-span 3. for more