Carl Angstadt Interview

PIONEERS IN TEXAS OIL TOPIC: Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas Boom Areas -- 1912 - 1952 NAME: Angstadt, Carl INTERVIEWER: Boatright, Mody C. PLACE: Eastland, Texas TAPE NO. 41 DATE: 8-4-52 RESTRICTIONS: None Angstadt- My name is Carl Angstadt. I was born In Tipton County, Indiana.

Spent my boyhood days in and around Tipton. I left Tipton in 1912, coming to Bartleville, Oklahoma.

I stayed In Bartleville about three months. Moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma; entered the employ of the Jureka Manufacturing Company on the 18th day of November, 1912.

And at this point I'd like to put in a plug for the company that I represent. It's in its 100th anniversary this year; we're celebrating it in all of the different points that we have branch stores and offices.

Mr. Henry Jureka came to Erie, Pennsylvania, from Poland in 1852.

Started a little brass foundry in Erie, Pennsylvania. At the time that the first Drake well was drilled in Pennsylvania, Mr. Jureka was making brass, malleable, and cast iron fittings at that time and sold them on the Drake well and conceived the supply end of the business, what they call the Jureka Manufacturing Company, manufacturers of oil and gas well supplies.

They built the plant from a little room about twelve or fourteen or fifteen feet square, developed it into a big manufacturing concern.

For 100 years they have sold material to the plumbing trade and oil and gas development.

(Cut it off there a minute, will you?) (BREAK)

A.- They served the oil and gas industry all through the eastern states. In 1911 they started their first stores, first branches west of the Mississippi River, and they've been serving that - that was in 1911.

They've built a great number of branch stores west of the Mississippi since that date.

Now I've been with them forty years now and I have started and built eighteen of these stores myself, for the company.

They moved out West, out in West Texas, Kansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, and still maintain a number of branch stores at those points.

They keep moving and building with the industry as they move from field to field or point to point. (BREAK)

A.- Our original headquarters, after moving west of the Mississippi River, were located at Tulsa, Oklahoma, later moving to St. Louis, then later moving to Houston. Now our western headquarters are in Dallas, Texas, in the Atlantic Building. (BREAK)

A.- Everything that's used for the development of oil and gas, refineries, gasoline plants, and at different times, water well equipment, rotary equipment, cable tool equipment, uh -- just a minute --

and all kinds of tubular goods.

That is, pipe, casing for the wells, tubing for the wells, wire lines, rotary bits -- in fact, everything in connection with the drilling of oil wells and operating after the wells were brought in. (I think that's about enough of that now.) (BREAK)

A.- It was at Tulsa, Oklahoma. From there I moved to Okmulgee, Oklahoma; from OKmulgee I moved up to Kansas -- Augusta, Eldorado. Was in Kansas about three years; came to Texas in the fall of 1918.

However, my experience in Tulsa and Okmulgee and up in Kansas -- I've noticed there've been a lot of changes in developing and methods of producing oil and gas, from the old, little old cable tools to the standard derrick, from there to the spudder, from the spudder to the small rotaries, from the small rotaries to the large rotaries. Now it costs up to a quarter of a million dollars for a completed outfit.

The wells are getting deeper as they progress in the industry. In Oklahoma the wells are all the way from 400 to 2,200 feet. Up in Kansas they were from 400 to 3/200 feet. Down here in Texas they run from 200 feet to 15,000 feet; sometimes they're drilled a lot deeper than that, as tests. Production below 15,000 feet is not very expensive. However, they intend to go as deep as 25,000 feet in the future.

The pipe that they use is of a much better grade than it was when I started in the business.

It was just what they call the Lapwell, twelve-point carbon pipe.

Now it's a strong seamless pipe.

Method of making the pipe, of course, is changed. The old Lapwell pipe was welded; now they pierce it and make a seamless, a weldless pipe, or what they call a seamless pipe. There's several different grades, according to the depth that you might want to go -- several different grades and several different weights.

Same way with tubing and pumping equipment. That has grown enormously. As I say, the methods are improving all the time. It's been very interesting to watch it develop from, the old days up to the present time and will be interesting in the future just as it has in the past. (BREAK)

A.- It's been very interesting in following the development of the oil and gas industry from the time I first started forty years ago, in Oklahoma.

Men were driving around in what we called buckboards at that time. That was a little old four-wheeled buggy with a rack on the back end, usually two horses to the buggy, driving out through the fields and in the mud.

One horse would hardly be sufficient. The methods of drilling at that time were -- well, I would say crude, to what they are now.

The personnel of the oil country was not near what it is now in intellect and intelligence.

At that time they were just hard, old experienced men, had charge of the property for the drilling.

Now they have it down -- it's almost entirely an engineering proposition.

Boys come out of college, go right out in the oil country now.

Then they just started right at the very bottom, and even today they have to depend on some of those old experienced men for the information that they have to have in bringing

wells in and taking care of them after they get them in.

In Tulsa they were just starting out at that time in the gasoline plant business.

I remember getting up at 5:30 in the morning and meeting the man that was building the first plant at Keefler, Oklahoma, the old Chestnut and Smith Plant.

This man Tom Smith would meet me at the store at 5:30 in the morning, catch a train for Supply, about 6:00 and he'd pick up what little stuff that he needed and carry it down with him to the plant, which was more of an experimental, in an experimental state at that time.

However, from that plant they started out and developed a number of plants after that. Even moved down into Texas. Later sold out to the Lone Star Gas Company, Lone Star Production Company. It's been a wonderful development in that line. (BREAK)

A.- In the early days labor was recruited from farmers and cities -- well, a lot of it came right out of the slums of the cities.

In the early days it was a pretty rough element all through the oil country.

Gradually it developed into high school, college, and high class people.

In the old days we had a rough element in the pipeline departments, in the tank building departments, and even in the drilling crews.

The elements were pretty rough.

They were hard-boiled; they were hard to get along with.

Boatright- Much fighting?

A.- A lot of fighting, a lot of trouble -- lot of trouble with the law, trouble among themselves.

'Course, now they don't build the

tanks that they used to build.

They conserve the oil and gas, keep it in the ground till it's about ready to bring to the surface for marketing.

The old-time tankies and the old-time pipeliners were pretty rough.

I've had a lot of experience in trying to -- well, even trying to stay out of trouble myself.

While I had a lot of friends, some of them would get a little rough once in awhile.

They'd have gang fights, do a lot of drinking, of course.

B.- Those gang fights -- would a gang be a pipe line crew, or would there be some other way they were grouped to call a gang?

A.- Well, they'd be pipe line crews or tank building crews that would fight - among themselves.

That is, they were a little bit clannish, and they'd get together and get to doing a little drinking, and then it wouldn't be long till they'd be in a big fight.

Some of them were pretty rough. Other times they'd fight among themselves -- just hard living, a hard life that they led.

But they've drifted out now, as I say, and it's a pretty decent class of people that you'll find now in any department of the oil industry, college graduates and engineers, professors that've quit their schools and gone into the business, geologists.

Even the supply end of it at one time was a little bit rough, or of a rougher element than today.

Find a lot of college men, engineers in the supply business; lot of college and engineers in the specialty end of it.

B.- What do you mean by "specialty end", Mr. Angstadt?

A.- Uh, specialty, that's the special instruments and special tools that are made and distributed through the supply companies to the

trade, or to the industry.

That takes engineering to develop that stuff.

It's going on continually, improvements.

They feel that as wells get deeper, it takes heavier stuff, higher classes of steel, higher grades; have to stand a lot more heat, more strength, lot more tests.

Fact is, everything is improving all through the oil industry and the gas industry. Methods of leasing even is improving. (BREAK)

A.~ I left the Kansas area for Texas in the fall of 1918, along about the middle of October.

I landed in Fort Worth, Texas, early in the morning.

I finally got a reservation at the Westbrook Hotel.

The boom had already started.

The Westbrook Hotel and all the smaller hotels in Port Worth were crowded; I finally got a room at the old Westbrook Hotel.

Stayed there a couple of days, and made my first trip to Ranger, and it was a beauty.

It took us about twelve hours from Fort Worth to Ranger on the T and P Railroad.

At that time the T and P Railroad wasn't much better than a lot of the country was at that time.

Landed in Ranger and couldn't find a place to room.

The boom had started and the crowds were tremendous -- all classes of people, all kinds.

We couldn't get a place in Ranger.

We came on over to Eastland, got a place over here in a little old room.

No pavement on the streets, no sidewalks.

The sidewalks were all board walks.

Shortly after I landed, on the way out, I noticed that they had a drought on at that time -- no weeds, no green trees,

no green foliage of any kind.

I'd look out the window of the car and see these mesquite trees, and I'd think the people are sure not taking very good care of their peach orchards down here.

(LAUGHTER) Thought the pecan trees were peach trees, and I'd never seen a pecan tree; never had. I'd never seen a ---

B.- Mesquite tree.

A.- - mesquite tree.

Never had seen any cotton, of course, and after getting out here, a short time, it started to rain.

It rained all year, almost all year.

The roads were almost impassable; the streets at Ranger and Eastland were mud holes.

We started one building at Eastland and one at Ranger along about the same time.

We started the Ranger building in April of 1919.

We started our Eastland building in March of 1919.

We finished our Ranger building in October of 1919; finished our Eastland building in September of 1919.

In other words, we started our Eastland building a month before we started our Ranger building and finished it a month before we finished our Ranger building.

B.- One of those large buildings?

A.- Yeah, one of those large brick buildings.

As I said, it rained almost all year at Ranger -- mud holes right out in front of the store.

I saw a mule drown one time right out in front of it. I say drowned; it got down and the mud and stuff got in its nostrils; it wasn't pure water -- It was mud and water and stuff.

He died before they could pull it out anyway. You couldn't cross the street from the depot, going up town.

They had a mud sled; they'd haul people across from the depot; across to

PIONEERS IN TEXAS OIL p. 9

the old wooden sidewalks -- only way they could get across there, unless they'd wade in mud clear up to their knees.

That lasted up until 1920.

Then they finally started building streets and sidewalks and begin improving the town.

That also was the case in Eastland; however, Eastland was a little bit better situated than Ranger was as far as streets and sidewalks were concerned, it being the county seat.

But the elements were bad all year and up until 1920.

As I say, it was a pretty rough element.

I remember sitting In the store one day at Ranger -- couple or three fellows ran in the back door, ran through the store, on out the front door, and a little while after that, bunch of laws came running through, all had big guns, looked like cannons to me.

And there'd been a hold-up, right back of our store, and they ran through our store to get away from the law.

They ran on across the railroad and barricaded themselves in an old hotel.

That is, I say an old hotel; it'd been built about a year or so.

It took the law about a half hour to get 'em out.

The finally got 'em out, and took 'em to jail, of course.

But in the meantime there's a few shots fired, quite a lot of fighting going on before they subdued 'em.

We were pretty badly scared, them running through there and then the law coming through with those guns.

Didn't know just exactly what was happening; (LAUGHTER)

B.- Did that sort of thing happen repeatedly?

A.- That yes, that happened repeatedly.

The hold-ups were numerous.

The crews on the rigs didn't know when they were going to be held up.

Any time at night they could go out and rob them of their clothes, their watches, their money.

That happened several times, even after they moved over into Eastland, up into the Breckenridge country; during that boom up there -- it was rough.

At that time there were no cars, all trucks, all wagons -- I mean no trucks, all wagons, as many as eight to ten horses to a wagon to haul pipe.

I've seen in our pipe yards alone in a morning as many as 200 wagons waiting to be loaded out with pipe, boiler, derricks, rigs, big machinery.

Then, of course, the trucks came along later, but before the trucks came along, and the horses and wagons, they had a number of oxen that they were hauling pipe with through the mud.

It was quite interesting to see a bunch of ten, twelve, fourteen head of oxen pulling a load of pipe.

The roads were bad, almost impassable.

Many a day I've taken all day to get to Breckenridge and back.

It would take almost all day to drive to Abilene, about a half a day to get from Eastland to Ranger, and the mud -- I remember a lot of different instances, driving along the road and we'd come to a big mud hole.

Couldn't get through.

There'd be a farmer sitting out to the side of the mud hole with a team of horses.

You'd ask him If he could pull you through that mud hole; he'd say, "Yes."

Cost you about $5 to get pulled out of that mud hole.

Funny thing after the rain stopped and the mud, why, these farmers would keep filling up these mud holes with water so they'd keep on

making their $5.

I remember a very good friend of mine, contractor, Mr. Lew Teatra (?), was coming from Breckenridge one day and the roads were all dry but this one particular place.

The farmer was sitting out at the side of the road with his team.

They wouldn't let you go around the mud hole into their farm; they wouldn't allow you on there.

Mr. Teatra drove up to this mud hole and saw that he couldn't get through, asked the farmer if he'd pull him through and he said, "Yes."

"What'll your charge me?" Said, "I'll charge you $15." Well, he said, "I've been getting a pull through these mud holes for $5."

Well, he says, "I'm charging $15."

Well, Mr. Teatra says, "All right, I guess I'll have to pay it; I've got to get to Eastland.

I don't have any money. Would you take a check?"

Farmer says, "Yes, I'll take your check."

And he said he wrote him out the check; and said, "He pulled me through the mud hole, and I've wondered if he ever found a bank that could read that signature that I put on that check." (LAUGHTER)

B.- Were the oxen thought better than the teams for moving through the mud?

A.- Yes, they were much better. It took a lot more of them, but they were more steady.

The progress was very slow, but they were much

stronger than the same number of horses.

They could handle 'em a little better than the horses.

They didn't last long. They began improving the roads, and the oxen left.

However, later on they began the same thing down in the old Mexia boom.

I might mention the different booms that I've gone through since I've been with this company.

The first one was at Okmulgee, Oklahoma; the second at Augusta and Eldorado, Kansas; then from Kansas, down into the Ranger and Eastland boom; from the Eastland boom down to the Mexia, Corsicana and Mildred boom; then back to the Coleman boom; then the Rankin boom; the Trent boom; the Abilene boom, and we just recently finished a new store at Rule, Texas.

While it's not a boom, the development is moving fast up there, and in Winters, Texas, down in Runnels County, we recently put in a new branch down there.

About the only reason that there isn't booms in those places now, on account of the tubular goods.

There was a recent strike, steel strike there, you know. The steel the last three, four years has been a big bottle-neck in the oil country, and they just don't have the booms any more that they used to have.

There're conservation laws, of course, control that altogether now.

They didn't used to have that.

As I say, they try to keep the oil in the ground now, rather than out on the -- storage on top of the ground.

But in West Texas, of course, I don't know very much about that.

That's beyond my jurisdiction out in West Texas, but they're having a boom out there now in the Spraberry Pool.

That is, well, it's slowing down now, but they have had a big play out there.

But in the old days the booms were big -- no conservation, no control over them at all, and the waste was terrific.

Now they're going back in the old fields and -- where the gas had been depleting and repressuring them, getting some of the old production that's been left in the ground.

That's, of course, going to be big in the future. That's an engineering proposition altogether, of course.

Lots of incidents have happened since I've been in the business.

The old-timers and the old methods of drilling -- lot of funny experiences I've had that I recall -- the old pipeliners.

I'd like to mention an experience I had up in Augusta, Kansas -- not an experience that I had, an experience that everybody had up there.

Right about the middle of the boom they changed officers, the town of Augusta.

People didn't seem to think that the local law was doing its duty and they sent and got a couple of strike-breakers that had been working down in the Cushing, Oklahoma, field.

Brought 'em up there and made two brothers -- well, one of 'em was chief and the other one was the deputy.

The streets were pretty rough at that time. About all the automobiles they had were Fords.

They had no tail lights outside of a kerosene lamp that they had on the back of the car.

They'd hit the main street of this town and shake those lamps out.

Well, they passed an ordinance that your tail light had to be burning.

Well, they'd be burning all right, but when you'd hit this rough street, they'd shake it out.

These two laws got to arresting people for not having

a tail light.

They would argue with 'em, take 'em around, try to get 'em to put their hands on the light, show 'em that it had been burning before they hit that street.

But it didn't affect 'em.