University of Texas at Austin -- Site of the Santa Rita No. 1, Texon TX - Coats of Arms on Waymarking.com

Ah, the mythical Santa Rita No 1, the creaky oil well that transformed the University of Texas and gave rise to the best Aggie Joke of all time. The remnants of the well is located down dusty Texon road off the US 67 near Big Lake TX.

The oil that unexpectedly flowed from this highly speculative venture has transformed the University of Texas from a struggling state land-grant college to one of the world's premier universities.

At the site of Santa Rita, which was dismantled and moved to the UT campus in 1958, the rest of the oil field equipment remains in place here: the motors, the drive wheels, the derrick, the valves, etc.

There is also a substantial monument of four plaques which names every one and everything that had anything to do with the preparation of the site, drilling the well, discovering the oil, and relocation of the Santa Rita No. 1 to the UT campus, in very florid and ponderous language, as follows:

"[Seal of the University of Texas]

THE WELL

The oil well Santa Rita No. 1 was drilled on the site to a depth of 3055 feet. It “blew in” on May 28, 1925. It had been name Santa Rita, Saint of the impossible, because of the highly speculative nature of the undertaking.

The events which have followed stretch the imagination. The land belonged then and it belongs now to University of Texas. The permanent fund of University of Texas has been enlarged greatly by the revenue which has resulted from a very simple beginning.

The development of these tremendous resources is without parallel among the educational institutions in America. Cognizance of what took place here compels one to be amazed at the great goodness of Providence, the wisdom of early Texans and setting aside land for the development of the educational system of the state, the courage and/or speculative zeal of the individuals who invested their money in an undertaking which offered little promise, the wisdom of the University’s governing boards and their representatives in managing this vast property, and the skill and resourcefulness developed through modern technology.

[seal of the University of Texas]

"Texon Oil and Land Company – University (Santa Rita) No. 1, NE/4 Section 2, Block 2, University Lands, Reagan County

THE EVENTS

* The Prediction of The Presence of Oil In The Permian Basin: June 21, 1916
* Drilling Permit Filed: March 27, 1919
* Organization of Texon Oil and Land Company: April, 1919
*Lease Validated by Drilling Water Well: January 8, 1921
* Location of the Well Surveyed: January 19, 20, 1921
* Construction of the Derrick And Shacks: July 1-20, 1921
* Drilling for Oil Begun August 17, 1921
* First Showing of Oil Encountered: May 27, 1923
* First Flow of Oil Out of Well: May 28, 1923
* Rig Dismantled for Shipment Austin: January 15, 1940
* Rig Arrived in Austin: February 5, 1940
* Rig Re-Erected in Austin And Dedicated: November 27, 1958

THE PEOPLE

* Predictor of Oil In The Permian Basin: Dr. Johan Udden
* Conceiver of The Idea Of Drilling: Rupert P. Ricker
* The Developers: Frank T. Pickerell; Haymon Krupp
* The Geologist: Dr. Hugh H. Tucker
* Commissioner of the General Land Office: J. T. Robinson
* Water Well Drillers: Walter Brown; W. C. Latham
* Orient Railroad Conductor: John B. Davenport
* The Signer of The Affidavit: R. J. Fitzgerald
* Surveyor for Location of the Well: J. J. Goodfellow Sr.
* Operator of the Ranch Holding the Grazing Lease: Ollie Parker
* The Water Well Deepener: W. P. Holt
* The Rig Builder: R. S. Mcdonald
* The Driller of The Well: Carl G. Cromwell
* The First Tool Dresser: Crawford Stillwagon
* Other “Toolies”: Will Hall; Bud Barefield; Claude Lyle; Jeff Hickox
* Conceiver of Moving Original Rig to the University Campus: Walter P. Webb
* Comptroller of the University of Texas Accepting the Rig: John W. Calhoun
* Donor of the Rig to the University of Texas: Big Lake Oil Company, Charles E Beyer, Gen. Mgr.
* Ranger of Rig Transportation: E. J. Compton
* Dismantlers of the Rig and Derrick: Tom Reed; Earl Brooks; J. E. Kobel; J. C. Williams; Howard Martz; B. L. May."

Some more context to the history above: The two largest state universities in Texas are land grant schools. In 1881, the State Legislature assigned two million acres of land in some of the least hospitable and most desolate areas of west Texas -- lands that nobody but railroads and rattlesnakes wanted -- to support not one but TWO state universities: The University of Texas (UT) and that Other State School, the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (A&M).

The Legislature required that any wealth generated from the University lands would be deposited into the Permanent University Fund (PUF), which would be used to support the operations of these universities so that the Legislature wouldn’t have to appropriate more state funds for that purpose.

When the lands were designated in the 1880s, the lands and the shares of the PUF dollars were to be evenly split between UT and A&M. But the Aggies, who were fully aware of the lack of agricultural potential of much of the University lands, negotiated a land sale with UT, ostensibly to raise cash for a building program.

A&M sold UT all their rights to some of the worst, most arid, least useful waste land in the vast University land grant - lands that had been assigned to A&M - for a few dollars per acre. In exchange, A&M gave up its claim to PUF revenues from the lands it sold to UT forever.

The UT regents jumped at the chance to buy more land, and made the deal without checking out the merchandise first. Thus the income from PUF lands went from a 50-50 split to 2/3-1/3 split -- 2/3 to the University of Texas, and 1/3 to A&M.

For many years this looked like a great deal for the Aggies, who kept the arable useful land they had been granted, and were able to make a reasonable return on leasing it for grazing and farming. UT, on the other hand, could do nothing with the hundreds of thousands of acres of arid desert-like alkali lands it had purchased – nothing could grow there, and it was unsuitable for livestock. Most of the income UT generated from these waste lands came in the form of Right-of-Way lease payments from railroads that passed through.

Worse, UT Regents had to keep going back to the Legislature for extra funding to run the University of Texas. Every time they did, they got to hear about how they had stupidly bought waste land that wasn't fit for man nor beast at an inflated price of $2 an acre.

The University limped along for decades trying to support itself with grazing or lease income on the acreage, interspersed with appropriations from a very stingy State Legislature.

Around 1900, a team of UT geologists fanned out over UT’s share of the land grant, trying to determine if there might be oil or some other exploitable natural resource somewhere. In 1916 one UT geologist thought that oil might be found there, since oil has been found in a similar formation in Pecos Texas, but most geologists disagreed with his assessment.

After WWI the Legislature changed the land-grant law to allow the Universities to lease their lands to individuals for oil and gas exploration. In 1922 a wildcat driller named Frank Pickerell (an entrepreneur with no prior oil drilling experience) leased the waste University of Texas lands, hired a crew, and picked the site of his first well, which he named in honor of Saint Rita, the patron saint of impossible tasks.

After nearly 2 years of drilling, the well came in on 28 May 1923, and EVERYTHING CHANGED -- for the University, for Pickerell, and for the state of Texas.

And where was this well located? On the lands sold by A&M to UT, of course!!

A&M’s great deal they had been chuckling about for decades became in an instant the first – and still the best – Aggie joke.

In the 1950s the original wooden Santa Rita No 1 oil well was disassembled and moved to the campus of the University of Texas. Santa Rita No. 1's parts were replaced at that time. The well produced intermittently until it was finally capped for good in 1990.

With its vast oil wealth, today the University of Texas has an endowment second only to that of Harvard's.

The Aggies are still living down that land deal.

HOOK 'EM HORNS!

(Mama Blaster is a proud graduate of the University of Texas, in case you couldn't tell.)

Bearer of Coat of Arms: University / College Full name of the bearer: The University of Texas at Austin Where is Coat of Arms installed (short description) ?: On a plaque at the site of the Santa Rita No. 1, the next most famous Texas oil well after Spindletop Material / Design: Cast metal Blazon (heraldic description): DISCIPLINA PRAESIDUM CIVITATIS Address: Texon Road off of the US 67 Texon TX Web page about the structure where is Coat of Arms installed (if exists): [Web Link] Web page about the bearer of Coat of Arms (if exists): [Web Link]

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