Spindle top was the first oil gusher, 1901.
The initial rate was 100,000 barrels a day. Quite a gusher.
But it took 9 days to bring under control!
Meanwhile all the oil ran out over the ground. It was somewhat cornered into a lake of 100 acres until it could be shipped.
The first oil gusher 1901.
At first it was thought this would simply wind down, but it continued. Lucas and crew then came up with a method to cap the well after 9 days.
The initial rate was 100,000 barrels a day. Quite a gusher.
But it took 9 days to bring under control!
Meanwhile all the oil ran out over the ground. At first they let it go, but then got busy funneling it to a pond - this was valuable stuff. The oil was cornered into a lake of 100 acres until it could be shipped. However, later the lake caught fire. There were quite a few fires at the derrick field.
From American Heritage:
"There being no tankage in the Beaumont area, they had to let the oil bubble out on the ground. Captain Lucas had some levees thrown up to contain it until he could get cypress tanks built. The railroad men protected their tracks with an embankment. Oil flowed over fields intended for rice farms and collected in a draw near the railroad."
Notice how the first gusher did damage to agricultural land.
"The flow finally stopped. They pounded rope between the six-inch and eight-inch pipes, poured cement in over the rope, and finally covered the valve with a mound of dirt, to protect the well from fire."
"It was fortunate they did. A few days later a spark from a locomotive set fire to the lake of oil that stretched between the well and the railroad tracks, three-fourths of a mile away. This time there was no chance to fight the fire. The flames leapt fast; the smoke was overpowering. Men worked feverishly to drag their equipment out of the path."
"The fire started about noon. By middle of the afternoon it was burning along the entire side of the lake bounded by the tracks. If the wind changed, flames would sweep across the whole of Spindletop."
Oil in the air damaging the nearby town, oil on the ground, and a fire. Wow.
Nothing new with the current spill, except it is off shore. We as a country, nation, world should always prepare for these disasters since they are likely to occur - or not allow drilling in the first place. Preparation means the ability to contain events even if we have a low rate of occurrences. the phrase "this can't happen to us again" should be a warning sign that we should prepare.
more history links:
more history
Wikipedia take on the event
another immigrant