DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Gulf Dial Number One Oil Well out in Hutchinson County. Now, to understand how oil came to the Texas Panhandle, you got to start a long way from here — down in the southeastern part of the state, where on January 10, 1901, Spindletop erupted. Not a volcano, mind you.
Oil. And when Spindletop blew, it launched a boom that sent corporations and individuals scrambling to drill across the whole state of Texas. The rush took its time reachin' the Panhandle, but by the 1920s, it had arrived.
In May of 1921, The Gulf Production Company discovered oil at the Gulf Burnett Number Two well over in Carson County. A few months later, Gulf set its sights on a place called the Dial Ranch — named after its original owners, J.C. and C.L. Dial — and they started drilling.
The method they used was cable-tool drilling, suited mostly for shallow wells. Out over each well site stood a wooden derrick, rising approximately eighty feet into that wide Panhandle sky. Eighty feet of timber and ambition, creaking in the wind.
They drilled for months. And then, in the spring of 1922, the well started filling up with hundreds of feet of oil. Now, the nearby Smith-Capers well had been established first — and history ought to remember that — but Gulf Dial Number One became Hutchinson County's first successful oil well.
By the summer of 1922, she was pumping around 500 barrels a day. That number settled down later to 135 barrels a day, but it kept on pumping. For more than fifty years, that well produced.
Success like that draws people, and people need a place to put their boots at night. Workers and residents built a small camp right there in the oil field, and by 1925, Dial, Texas, had taken shape — eighty to one hundred oil field workers and their families calling it home. The Dial lease eventually faded into obscurity as production from its many wells declined, but the story doesn't end with quiet.
Gulf Dial Number One catalyzed the founding of Borger — and the marker says it plain — one of the most successful oil towns in the United States. All of it traces back to a wooden derrick, eighty feet tall, standing over a patch of Panhandle ground that had been keeping a secret for a very long time.
What the marker says
The southeastern Texas oil field, Spindletop, erupted on January 10, 1901, launching an oil boom in the state. This prompted many corporations and individuals to begin drilling for oil in Texas. By the 1920s, the rush reached the Texas Panhandle. In May 1921, The Gulf Production Company discovered oil at Gulf Burnett #2 well in Carson County. A few months later, The Gulf Company began drilling on the Dial Ranch, named after the original owners, J.C. and C.L. Dial. The Gulf Dial #1 well utilized cable-tool drilling, a method used mostly for shallow wells. Equipped with the drilling mechanism and equipment, a wooden derrick stood approximately 80 feet high at each oil well. In the spring of 1922, the well began filling up with hundreds of feet of oil after months of drilling. While the nearby Smith-Capers well was established first, the Gulf Dial # 1 became Hutchinson County's first successful oil well. By the summer of 1922, the well pumped around 500 barrels a day. Later, however, the well produced 135 barrels a day. Because of the success of Gulf Dial #1, workers and other residents built a small camp within the oil field. Established in 1925, Dial, Texas, consisted of eighty to one hundred oil field workers and their families. The Gulf Dial # 1, produced oil for more than 50 years. The Dial lease faded into obscurity after production of its many wells declined, but the oil field was essential in Hutchinson County's early economic development. Because of its discovery, Gulf Dial #1 catalyzed the founding of Borger as one of the most successful oil towns in the United States. (2018)