Chapter 23 Review

Identify the following:

  1. Philanthropy– The giving of money or gifts for charitable causes.
  2. Petroleum- Dark, thick liquid fossil fuel commonly called oil.
  3. Santa Rita #1- Oil well that struck oil in 1923 and helped fund the Permanent University Fund.
  4. fossil fuel- Fuel such as coal, oil or natural gas formed underground from plant and animal remains.
  5. vertical integration- Owning businesses involved in each step of a manufacturing process.
  6. horizontal integration – Owning many businesses in a particular field.
  7. Anthony F. Lucas –a drilling engineer that responded to Higgin’s ad.
  8. Patillo Higgins- speculated that there was oil under Spindletop Hill
  9. Wildcatters- Oil operators who worked on their own in search of new fields.
  10. natural gas- Gas that can be used as fuel.
  11. internal combustion engines- Engine in which the combustion or burning, that generates power takes place inside the engine. It caused the oil industry to boom.
  12. Lyne T. Barrett- found oil in Nacogdoches
  13. Boomtowns- Towns that grow along with economic booms.
  14. Refinery- Factory where crude oil is refined or made into usable products such as gasoline
  15. Derricks- Towers that support oil drilling equipment
  16. Texas Railroad Commission- State agency created in 1891 initially for the regulation of railroad and other transportation companies; in the early 1900s received the authority to enforce regulations regarding the oil industry as well.
  17. Permanent University Fund- Fund established in 1876 by the Texas Legislature that set aside 1 million acres of land in West Texas for Texas universities; oil revenues form the area benefit the universities.
  18. Gasoline- a by product of oil used as a fuel
  19. Spindletop strike –Big oil strike at Spindletop Hill on Jan. 10, 1901; marked the beginning of the Texas oil boom

Short Answer:

  1. Why did the state begin to regulate the spacing of oil wells in a field?

Because oil resources were being depleted by overdrilling.

  1. Why was wildcatting for oil a risky business?

Because only a few people actually struck oil

  1. How did education in Texas benefit from the oil industry?

From taxes collected from oil and the Permanent University Fund

  1. What technological development that most assured the success of the oil industry? The internal combustion engine
  2. Why could natural gas not be used widely before the 1890’s? it couldn’t be transported
  3. What were the first commercial uses of petroleum? As a lubricant for axels and kerosene for lighting
  4. How did Spindletop affect national oil prices?It drove them down due to an abundance on the market.
  5. Why was so much natural gas simply burned off? Because there was no safe way to get it to market.
  6. What government agency did the state give authority to regulate the oil business? The Texas Railroad Commission
  7. Who struck oil in North Texas? WT Waggoner What was he initially drilling for? water