Carl Cromwell
Pickrell hired a crew to set up a portable drilling unit at the site to drill a water well designed to service the planned drilling operation. Just before the lease expiration deadline, Pickrell flagged down a car and persuaded the two men on their way to town to sign affidavits swearing that work had begun on the well prior to midnight, which meant that he had met the deadline and once again saved the lease.
In June of 1921, a rig building crew was hired to build the derrick. By the time the derrick was completed, Pickrell had hired an experienced cable tool driller named Carl Cromwell for $15.00 per day plus stock in the company. Cromwell moved his family to the site and by August, he had a drilling rig assembled and ready to go. The well was spud in August of 1921 located in Section 2, Block 2, on University of Texas land in Reagan County.
1921
Frank Pickrell & Haymon Krupp 1919
Pickrell and Krupp had no better luck promoting the acreage than had Ricker, so they decided to develop the acreage themselves. They incorporated as Texon Oil & Land Company, and eventually ended up in New York City to raise the capital needed for drilling, selling shares in their newly created company. Their early investors included a group of Catholic women, who became nervous about their investment.
Their priest advised them to ask Saint Rita, patron saint of the impossible, for assistance. The next time Pickrell was in New York, the women gave him a sealed envelope containing a rose that had been blessed by the priest in the name of the saint. Following their instructions, Pickrell returned to the site and scattered the rose petals from the top of the derrick, christening the well “Santa Rita.”
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