DUANE
Duane's take
The marker's the one tellin' this story — I'm just the voice it's travelin' through. Now picture 1918. Cotton farmers Shields and Cassie Fowler are standin' on their land in Burkburnett, staring down a drought so oppressive they're seriously considering walking away from everything they've built.
The cotton isn't cooperating. The sky isn't cooperating. And the future looks about as dry as the ground beneath their boots.
But here's where the story turns. Cassie Fowler had been paying attention. Small oil finds had been popping up in the area — nothing enormous, but enough to get a person thinking.
And Cassie was most definitely thinking. She suggested they drill a well. Right there on their own land.
Now, they didn't have the resources to do it alone, so Shields and Cassie called in family, friends, and local business owners. Together, they picked a spot to start drilling — near their hog pen, of all places. Not exactly the most glamorous of locations.
But on July 26 of that year, the Fowler Discovery Well blew in. It became the largest producing well the town had seen up to that point. Once contained, it was yielding about two thousand five hundred barrels a day.
Two thousand five hundred barrels. From a hole in the ground next to the hogs. The well had tapped something called the Townsite Pool — a vast reservoir sitting right beneath Burkburnett.
And what followed was four years of boomtown growth. The area filled up fast. Close to three thousand wells eventually dotted that land, along with several refineries.
Cassie Fowler looked at a drought and saw a question worth asking. Turns out the answer was about two thousand five hundred barrels deep.
What the marker says
(400 yards north) In 1918, cotton farmers Shields and Cassie Fowler considered leaving their land due to oppressive drought conditions. Aware of small but successful oil finds in the area, however, Cassie suggested they drill a well on their land. With help from family, friends and local business owners, they began drilling near their hog pen, and the Fowler Discovery Well blew in on July 26. The largest producing well in the town to that point, it yielded about 2,500 barrels a day once contained. The well tapped the vast Townsite Pool and triggered four years of boomtown growth for Burkburnett. The area soon had close to 3,000 wells and several refineries. (2005)