DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Joseph Sterling Bridwell, right here in Wichita County. Now, some men come to Texas and leave a small mark. Joseph Bridwell came to Texas and left a lake, a library, a military base, a ranch, a blood line, and a foundation still funding charities to this day.
But let's start at the beginning, because a good story earns its ending. Joseph Bridwell was born March 23, 1885, near Northview, Missouri. He made his way to Wichita Falls in 1909 and got into the real estate business.
That right there might've been the whole story for most men. But Bridwell was just warming up. By 1915, he was buying, selling, and trading oil leases.
His first venture in actual drilling came in 1917 with the Cashion Oil Company. He liked what he found, apparently, because in 1927 he formed the Bridwell Oil Company. Now here's where the story picks up some real Texas momentum.
When oil prices started falling and the men who made their living in petroleum got good and fed up, a group of oil operatives met to protest. Out of that meeting, the North Texas Oil and Gas Association was formed — the organization that today goes by the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers. Bridwell served as its president in 1933.
And that same year, 1933, he was one of the representatives who sat down to help form a code of fair competition known as the National Industrial Recovery Act. Not bad for a Missouri boy who started out selling real estate. But oil and gas couldn't hold all of Bridwell's ambitions.
In 1932, he purchased what would become the Bridwell Hereford Ranch, and he set about producing better cattle for Texas and the Southwest. He acquired a bull by the name of Larry Domino, and that animal — along with his progeny — went on to win countless trophies and sire a top Hereford blood line. Larry Domino.
Remember that name. Somewhere out there in the lineage of a blue-ribbon Hereford, that bull's legacy is still walking around. Then in 1949, Bridwell started the J.S.
Bridwell Soil Builders Awards, offering prizes for conservation across several farming areas. That program stayed in effect until his death. The man was always thinking about what grows next.
And in public service — well, this is where Wichita Falls really ought to tip its hat. Bridwell was instrumental in founding the West Texas Chamber of Commerce. He gave the city land for a park.
He gave liberally to the Methodist Children's Home in Waco and to the Bridwell Library at the School of Theology at Southern Methodist University. He sold the government 300 acres for one dollar — one dollar — which helped locate Sheppard Field here in 1940, the place that would later become Sheppard Air Force Base. When the city was in desperate need of water, he sold his land to the city, and that transaction created Lake Arrowhead.
And in 1949, he founded the Bridwell Foundation, which funds many charities including universities, and is still doing that work today. Joseph Bridwell died May 9, 1966. He left behind a lake people drink from, a base that trains airmen, a library where scholars study, a cattle line that wins ribbons, a foundation that funds good works, and a park where folks in Wichita Falls can just sit and breathe a minute.
One man. One very full life. That's the marker's word on it, and I'd say it stands on its own.
What the marker says
JOSEPH BRIDWELL WAS BORN MARCH 23, 1885, NEAR NORTHVIEW, MISSOURI. HE MOVED TO WICHITA FALLS IN 1909 AND WENT INTO THE REAL ESTATE BUSINESS. BY 1915, BRIDWELL BEGAN BUYING, SELLING, AND TRADING OIL LEASES. HIS FIRST VENTURE IN DRILLING WAS THE CASHION OIL COMPANY IN 1917, AND HE FORMED THE BRIDWELL OIL COMPANY IN 1927. WHEN A GROUP OF OIL OPERATIVES MET TO PROTEST FALLING OIL PRICES, THE NORTH TEXAS OIL AND GAS ASSOCIATION, NOW TEXAS ALLIANCE OF ENERGY PRODUCERS, WAS FORMED. BRIDWELL SERVED AS ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT IN 1933 AND WAS ONE OF THE REPRESENTATIVES WHO MET TO FORM A CODE OF FAIR COMPETITION KNOWN AS THE NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL RECOVERY ACT IN 1933. BRIDWELL ALSO HAD A PASSION FOR RANCHING. IN 1932 HE PURCHASED BRIDWELL HEREFORD RANCH WHERE HE PRODUCED BETTER CATTLE FOR TEXAS AND THE SOUTHWEST. HE ACQUIRED A BULL, LARRY DOMINO, WHO WITH HIS PROGENY WENT ON TO WIN COUNTLESS TROPHIES AND SIRE A TOP HEREFORD BLOOD LINE. IN 1949, BRIDWELL INITIATED THE J.S. BRIDWELL SOIL BUILDERS AWARDS, WHICH OFFERED PRIZES FOR CONSERVATION IN SEVERAL FARMING AREAS. THIS PROGRAM WAS IN EFFECT UNTIL HIS DEATH. BESIDES BEING A LEADER IN THE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY, BRIDWELL WAS ACTIVE IN PUBLIC SERVICE. HE WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN FOUNDING THE WEST TEXAS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, GAVE THE CITY LAND FOR A PARK AND GAVE LIBERALLY TO THE METHODIST CHILDREN'S HOME IN WACO AND THE BRIDWELL LIBRARY AT THE SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY AT SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY. HE SOLD THE GOVERNMENT 300 ACRES FOR ONE DOLLAR WHICH HELPED LOCATE SHEPPARD FIELD (LATER SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE) HERE IN 1940; SOLD HIS LAND TO THE CITY WHEN IT WAS IN DESPERATE NEED OF WATER, CREATING LAKE ARROWHEAD; AND FOUNDED THE BRIDWELL FOUNDATION IN 1949, WHICH FUNDS MANY CHARITIES INCLUDING UNIVERSITIES. BRIDWELL DIED MAY 9, 1966.