The University of Oklahoma

THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE THE CITY MOVES WEST: ECONOMIC AND INDUSTRIAL GROWTH OF THE SOUTHERN LLANO ESTACADO A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY BY ROBERT LESLIE MARTIN Norman, Oklahoma 1959 THE CITY MOVES WEST: ECONOMIC AND INDUSTRIAL GROWTH OP THE SOUTHERN LLANO ESTACADO APPROVED BY /■ DISSERTATION COMMITTEE ACKNOWLEDGMENT In the preparation of this work, done in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Oklahoma, I am indebted to a number of people for their help. The aid and advice of my Major Professor, Dr. Gilbert C. Fite, have been invaluable. The other members of the original Dissertation Committee, Dr. Donald J, Berthrong, Dr. John S. Ezell, Dr. Hans A. Schmitt, and Dr. Victor A. Elconin, have read preliminary drafts and have made suggestions. Dr. Alfred B. Sears, Dr. Eugene Hollon, and Dr. Edwin McReynolds kindly consented to replacing ab sent members of the committee, and they have read the final draft and have made corrections and suggestions. Mrs. E. A. Frankfurt has helped in proof reading. The love, devotion, patience, and assistance of my parents, Mr. and Mrs. L. E. Martin, and especial ly of my wife, Daisy Martin, have made the work possible. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS ................................... vii LIST OF MAPS ................................... viii INTRODUCTION ................................................ ix Chapter I. THE CATTLE INDUSTRY ................................... 1 Th^ Open Range ....................................... 1 Texas Land Laws ....... 6 Fencing the R a n g e ........ 15 II. EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS ........... 21 Scurry County .................................. 25 The Texas and Pacific Railroad...................... 26 Nolan County......................................... 29 Howard County ................................... 5^ Midland County ....................................... 58 Ector County ........ 42 Dawson County.......... 44 III. THE DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 1880-1900 .............. 48 Physical Problems ................ 49 Crop Production..................................... 52 IV. WEST TEXAS AGRICULTURE, I9OO-I95O ..................... 70 iv Chapter Page Farmer's Organizations ........................... 71 Crop Production....... 73 Farming During the First World War ................... 94 Farm Mortgages ............ 95 Tenancy ............ 97 Cotton and Grain Sorghums ....................... 100 V. URBAN GROWTH, 1900-1950 .............................. 106 Big Spring............................ 107 Sweetwater ........................................... Il4 Snyder .............. 124 Lamesa...................................... 127 Midland .............................................. 129 Odessa ............................. 1$4 VI. WEST TEXAS OIL TO 1950 ............................... 142 Early Geological Work ................................ l44 The First Discoveries ................................ 149 VII. THE WEST TEXAS OIL INDUSTRY COMES OF A G E ............. l6l Ector County ................... 162 Scurry County .................................. 169 Spraberry Trend A r e a ......... 175 Secondary Recovery in West Texas ..................... 179 VIII. INDUSTRY AND BUSINESS IN WEST T E X A S .................. 185 Oil Service Companies ............... 187 Pipelines ...... 191 Refineries ........................................... 194 Petrochemical Industries.................... 197 V Chapter Page Other Mineral Industries ....................... 20$ Government Installations ............................. 207 The Water Problem............ ......................... 208 IX. THE CITIES: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE ................ 216 Growth of Cities, 1930-1958 ........................ 218 The Future of Cities in WestTexas ........ 2$9 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................. 242 vi LIST OF TABLES AITO CHARTS Table Page 1. Data on Farming, I9OO-I95O ........................ 104-105 Chart 1. Cumulative Oil Production to 1952 ........ 155 vii LIST OF MAPS Map Page 1. Map of the Southern Llano Estacado ................ 20 viii INTRODUCTION General histories dealing with the sonthwestern United States and more detailed studies of Texas usually have neglected the impor tant factor of the rise of the city in the West. This study is in tended partially to fill this gap by studying a restricted area of West Texas and by tracing the various economic forces that have con tributed to the growth of that section. Because of the complexity of the subject it has been neces sary to limit the area and the number of cities to be considered. The region is roughly that between the parallels thirty-one degrees and thirty minutes on the south and thirty-three degrees on the north, the one hundredth meridian on the east, and the Texas-New Mexico border on the west, an area about ninety by one hundred and eighty miles. Although this section is a part of a larger geographical re gion, it forms a unit for a number of reasons. Geographically it is bordered on the north by the South Plains and on the south by the Trans-Pecos region. Geologically it lies mostly in the Central Basin Uplift, so that discovery of oil in one part of the area has led to exploration of other sections. Economically it forms a unit in that the growth of the entire area has been attributable to one economic factor during recent years, the presence of oil. ix Within the region only cities of at least 10,000 population at the time of the 1950 census have been considered. Six such cit ies exist; Lamesa, Dawson County; Snyder, Scurry County; Sweetwa ter, Nolan County; Big Spring, Howard County; Midland, Midland Coun ty; and Odessa, Ector County. All are county seats, and in its makeup each has most of the characteristics to be found in smaller towns in the region. Cities, particularly in their infancy, reflect the life of the area in which they are situated. The first part of this study, therefore, deals with the region as a whole and with the counties in which these cities are located. The area concerned has passed through three economic phases in which one industry has been domi nant. Although these periods overlap, fairly exact terminal dates of the time of their major importance can be established. Beginning with the range cattle industry of the late 1870's, each of these economies is briefly sketched. The range cattle in dustry and the period of the fenced ranch is traced from the 1870’s to about 1900, farming from the 1880’s to 1950 as the period of greatest importance, and the oil industry from 1920 to 1950. Since the modern city did not develop in West Texas until after 1900, a major portion of the work will deal with the more recent period. This is essentially the economic history of a region. Con sequently, social, cultural, and political factors receive little attention. Nor is this intended to be entirely a study of cities, but rather of the factors that caused the urbanization of an area. The urbanization of the United States has been one of the dominant movements of the post-Civil War period. The movement reached West Texas only recently and has not previously been studied. This work is a study of the city, its development, and its future in the Southern Llano Estacado. XI THE CITY MOVES WEST; ECONOMIC AND INDUSTRIAL GROWTH OP THE SOUTHERN LLANO ESTACADO CHAPTER I THE CATTLE INDUSTRY By the end of the Civil War, several million wild cattle roamed the western plains of Texas, Returning soldiers and other citizens of the state realized that a fortune was to be had by purchasing cattle from ranchers for 33.00 to $4.00 a head, or better still, by simply rounding up a herd from those that ran wild, and selling them in northern markets where beef was at a premium. It was known that the problem of transportation could be solved since Texas cattle might profitably be driven over long distances.^ The result of this promising set of circumstances was the founding of the range cattle industry in Texas and the inauguration of the long drive to meet railroads pushing across Missouri and Kansas. By 1870 the industry was well established in Texas. Grazing Details of the range cattle industry may be found in many works. For the general story Ernest Staples Osgood, The Day of the Cattleman (Chicago, 1929), and Edward Everett Dale, The Range Cattle Industry (Norman, 1930), are standard works. In Rupert Norval Richardson, Texas, The Lone Star State (New York, 1945), and William Curry Holden, Alkali Trails (Dallas, 1930), may be found accounts of the industry in Texas. 1 2 their herds on free public land and on privately owned ranches, cattlemen had extended the western limits of their domain to a line roughly along the ninety-eighth meridian, the area of the cross tim- 2 bers. Beyond this point there were few settlers, for Indians were still a menace on the western plains of Texas. Although a line of forts was completed in West Texas by the Federal Government between 1866 and 1868, Indian raids continued to occur. Protection of so long a frontier was a difficult task, and it was not until the mid-1870's that Federal troops, aided by the Frontier Battalion of the Texas Rangers, were able to subdue the In dians.^ By 1875 settlers were able to move onto the plains in rela tive safety. The area then opened to settlement was a vast level plain oc casionally broken by

Load more