KMA Oilfield

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about the KMA Oilfield out in Wichita County. Now, some stories start with a handshake and a dream. This one starts with four businessmen, a plot of land in southwestern Wichita County, and January of 1919.

Joseph A. Kemp, S.I. Munger, H.M.

Munger, and Reece S. Allen joined together that month and formed the Kemp-Munger-Allen Oil Company. Four names, one company, and an awful lot of north Texas ground beneath their feet.

One hundred and thirty-five thousand acres worth, as it would turn out. Now, they didn't have to wait long for the land to speak up. KMA's first oil well began flowing in October 1919.

Nine months after the company was formed. By August of 1921, that oilfield was producing seven thousand two hundred barrels of oil per day. Almost all major oil companies came around to profit from the operation, and who could blame them.

But here's the thing about oil. The ground doesn't give it up forever without a fight. Production started declining, and then came something nobody wanted to see: saltwater.

That's the signal that a field is working against you. Investors had to find alternate methods for oil acquisition, and find them they did. Deep Oil Company made a discovery in 1931, turning up the thirty-eight hundred foot oil zone.

That set off a chain of events: the 1937 Kadane-Mangold gusher, two thousand barrels per day. Then the 1942 Ellenberger discovery of the forty-three hundred foot oil zone. The field kept reaching deeper, and the field kept paying out.

Then, in the nineteen forties and fifties, pressurized gas and saltwater injection advances ensured that oil recovery in the KMA field would continue. They turned the saltwater problem into part of the solution. That's the kind of stubbornness that builds a region.

And build a region it did. Over the years, the success of the KMA Oilfield led to the boom of the old town of Kemp City. The town expanded, residents called for a post office, and that's where things get a little interesting.

You see, there was already a Kemp, Texas, sitting to the southeast. And the postal authorities would not accept KMA as a word. So the postmaster did what any resourceful Texan would do: he added an 'a' and a 'y' to KMA and designated the town as Kamay.

Named after the oilfield that spurred the region's initial boom. More than three thousand wells drilled, depths ranging from seventy-five to forty-three hundred feet, and at the end of it all, a town with a name that carries the whole story right there in its letters. K.

M. A. You just have to know how to read it.

What the marker says

Covering 135,000 acres and holding more than 3,000 wells, the KMA Oilfield has impacted the north Texas area since the early twentieth century. In January 1919, four local businessmen, Joseph A. Kemp (1861-1930), S.I. Munger (1855-1921), H.M. Munger (1854-1923) and Reece S. Allen (1874-1946), joined together to form the Kemp-Munger-Allen Oil Company and bought a plot of land in southwestern Wichita County. From its inception, the KMA Oilfield continuously produced oil from depths of 75 to 4,300 feet and almost all major oil companies profited from the operation. KMA's first oil well began flowing in October 1919 and by August 1921, the oilfield produced 7,200 barrels of oil per day. However, with production declining and the appearance of saltwater, investors had to find alternate methods for oil acquisition. Deep Oil Company's 1931 discovery of the 3800-ft. oil zone led to the 1937 Kadane-Mangold 2000-barrel-per-day gusher and the 1942 Ellenberger 4300-ft. oil zone. Pressurized gas and saltwater injection advances in the 1940s and 1950s ensured continued oil recovery in the KMA field. Over the years, the success of the KMA Oilfield led to the boom of the old town of Kemp City. As the town expanded in size, residents called for a post office. Because Kemp, Texas, already existed to the southeast and KMA was not accepted as a word, the postmaster added an "a" and a "y" to KMA to designate the town as Kamay, naming the town after the oilfield that spurred the region's initial boom. (2018)