Bossier Parish Enters American Oil Boom

Lucas Gusher, Spindletop Hill, Texas, 1901 

Did you know that Louisiana is among the top ten producers of crude oil in the United States? The beginning of the American oil industry came when on Jan. 10, 1901, a drilling derrick at Spindletop Hill near Beaumont, Texas, produced an enormous gusher of crude oil, coating the landscape for hundreds of feet. News of the Lucas Gusher was heard around the world and ignited "oil fever." Oil prospecting became a big business. People were anxious to make similar discoveries and investors began shelling out tons of money searching for oil.

In 1909, the first oil well that struck oil in this parish was located at Oakland Plantation. Though it was deemed a success because the goal was to find oil and that they did, they felt the vein they struck was too small and decided against extracting it. The oil well was relocated and led to the discovery of natural gas in that section, a common occurrence when prospecting for oil. Nonetheless, the news of striking oil was received with joy throughout the parish and fueled the desire to find more oil here.

R.O. Roy, 1938
Owner of R.O. Roy & Company

Prospectors drilled many discovery wells all over the Parish in hopes of finding "black gold." The first big producer was a shallow pool located at Bellevue that was discovered by R. O. Roy and his associates on Nov. 14, 1921. They put down about a half dozen deep wells and nine shallow wells in their search for the hidden pool of oil. According to the newspaper report, "It was one of the shallow wells that 'brought in the bacon.'"

Bellevue Field oil wells, Bossier Parish, early 1900s
Written on the photo: Nacatoch sand well at 305 feet,
Flowing 1200 barrels a day. 

It was described as a 'wonder' well, because it was the shallowest producing oil well in the Southwest. They reached the pool of oil at a depth of only 397-feet and 10-inches. Before that, the shallowest well was 625 feet deep near Houston, TX. With only a two-inch pipe for the oil to flow through, the well produced at least 60 barrels per hour, approximately 1,500 barrels per day. Had they used the standard four-inch pipe, the daily output would have been upwards of 6,000 barrels.

According to an article by W.S. Ingram published in The Shreveport Times in 1926, "it was the Bellevue shallow field that wrote a new chapter into oil history of the United States." He also stated that "Other wells quickly followed, what was believed the world's shallowest hole flowing 400 barrels from 289 feet, and one of the largest, flowing 3,500 barrels from 336 feet. The total production of this shallow field for the first six months being pipeline runs of 103,700 barrels. The production of this marvelous field for the year ending October 1, 1925, totaled (official figures) 1,327,068 barrels. For the same period there were 32 completions, three being gassers, and 12 producers with initial production of 3,623 barrels.

"This wonder field became the talk of the country and because of the unheard of depth at which the initial production of 1,500 barrels through a two-inch pipe, was obtained, most people were inclined to discount reports of the production. But a visit to the jungle where the holes were located soon convinced the most skeptical. The hole was drilled with a light rotary rig, the table being not more than 30 inches in diameter and the derrick only 38 feet high 'watch charm rigs' as they were termed by a Texas operator. But this field has produced millions of dollars of oil, has caused to be constructed physical property worth millions more and brought Bossier parish and north Louisiana into the limelight of the oil and gas world."

By: Amy Robertson

Tri-State Oil Tool Co.: 45 Years of Success

Tri-State Oil Tool Co. was established in Bossier City on Dec. 1, 1945, co-owned by Gary H. Burnham of Longview, TX and Earl P. Sawyer of Hamburg, AR with only seven employees. They were a general oil field machine shop specializing in cleaning wells and correcting other problems in well drilling.

In six short years, the company grew “from a modest beginning to one of this area’s leading oil tool service and supply companies,” according to “officials of the firm.” According to Burnham, they carried “a complete line of squeeze, acidizing, and fishing tools, well testing tools, both formation and casting: all sizes of washover pipes, and several types of drill pipe equipment with tool joints.”

In 1951, they moved into their new headquarters one-quarter mile east of Benton Rd. on Highway 80. Here, they had “a 250-foot frontage as compared with the old 55 feet” giving the company a larger building, more storage space, and parking. They had a large fleet of cars and seven trucks offering their services to the Ark-La-Tex around the clock.

Tri-State Oil Tool Co. new headquarters, plant, and pipe yard built in 1951. Photo taken in 1959.
Collection ID: 2000.036.001-2.

By 1953 they boasted five branches throughout Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas. They had a staff of 90 highly skilled employees divided among plants in Lafayette, La; Beaumont, Kilgore, and Corpus Christi in Texas, and Magnolia, Ar. They did not limit themselves to work only in the Ark-La-Tex. They also provided their services as far north as Canada, as far east as Florida, and as far south as the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Cameron Parish.

In September of 1954, Tri-State Oil Tool Co. announced that they had perfected a new fishing tool. “The Tri-State Special Washover Drill Collar Spear is installed inside the washover pipe at a desired point so that it may be screwed into the fish before the rotary shoe reaches the stuck point. After the joint is securely tightened the working string is turned about one-eighth turn to the left and lowered. This operation releases the tool from the control bushing and washover operations may proceed with the comfortable feeling that when the fish is washed free it will be securely and safely caught.”

Tri-State Oil Tool Co.'s new Washover Drill Collar Spear.  

“Another interesting and time saving feature of this new tool is that the spear may be released and lowered to the control bushing and wash pipe laid down before having to do the usual difficult stripping job.”

“The remarkable efficiency of this new tool has been proven on many jobs under adverse conditions for such companies as Penrod Drilling Co., Phillips Petroleum Co., Hunt Oil Co., of Texas, Lion Oil
Co., and many others.”

Over the years, Tri-State Oil Tool Co. became a leading oil tool service and supply company not only for the tri-state area but for the country. For 45-years they remained an essential part of Bossier City’s economy; until 1990 when they merged with Baker Hughes International of Houston and relocated its corporate headquarters to Houston, Tx.

To learn more about the industries of Bossier Parish, visit the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center at 2206 Beckett Street, Bossier City.

By: Amy Robertson