Before the turn of the 20th century, Waco was known for its Suspension Bridge, its cattle drives and its cotton fields.

But it was not known for oil.

Primitive, low-volume oil fields had been discovered in Nacogdoches County shortly after the Civil War.

An illustration from the Prospectus of the Waco Oil and Gas Co. Acquiring wealth by purchasing a lot, the investors said, required “first, a vision; second, the nerve to capitalize on it; in short, third, an adventuresome spirit.”
The Texas Collection at Baylor University photo

But in McLennan County, water was more valuable an underground find in local soil than oil, which would later be termed “black gold.”

Water, in fact, is what Col. William Lambdin Prather (1848-1905) of Waco was seeking for his lucrative cattle ranch and family farm in 1890, when he struck oil instead. A well being drilled for irrigation encountered a substantial amount of oil at a depth of 265 feet. This oil, unlike that from Nacogdoches, proved practical for use in illumination.

But no particular or immediate attention was paid to the discovery. It wasn’t until about 14 years later that speculation grew about a few wells tapped in the vicinity — South Bosque, about eight miles northeast of McGregor in southwest central McLennan County.

The field proved to be fairly shallow and had a low daily output, and the price of oil was so low that it made large-scale recovery impractical.

But so many small wells eventually were drilled that, although South Bosque did not become a classic boom town or overnight success, the new industry did provide a modest boost to the local economy.

It wasn’t for lack of trying. Local speculators launched the Waco Oil News on Feb. 24, 1921, to generate buzz for the county’s prospects.

The Oil News often quoted mining geologist and consultant A.A. Hassan of New York City, who often decribed the promise that the property held. He touted the possibilities of extracting “high grade oil” in “enormous quantities” from the Balcones Fault Escarpment.

“There is no question that McLennan County possesses the best shallow fields in Texas,” Hassan said.

Col. William Lambdin Prather (right) and a young colleague are seen in Prather’s office in the 1880s. Prather was famous for the phrase that gave rise to the University of Texas song “The Eyes of Texas Are Upon You.”
The Texas Collection at Baylor University photo

At the time, the paper reported, South Bosque boasted 72 producing wells, with 25 rigs running; each providing one to 12 barrels per day on land about 28 square miles in size located about nine miles from Waco. “Solid, not spectacular,” one headline read.

“No gushers, no town-building booms, no land grabs,” the author of the article wrote, was considered by many to be preferable to “deep well production with a high initial flow and rapid decline.”

In fact, such a steady output, while not flashy, might be more appealing to the conservative businessman in the industry for the long haul rather than the flamboyant speculator, the trade paper said.

Waco’s accidental oil tycoon, Prather, was a Tennessee native reared in Waco from age 6. The son of Lucretia P. and George W. Prather, an original investor in the Suspension Bridge, William Prather received the best private education his father’s income could provide.

In 1867, the elder Prather sent him to study under retired Gen. Robert E. Lee at Washington College, Lexington, Va. Prather was a pallbearer at Lee’s 1870 funeral, and always hung a portrait of the Confederate icon in his offices.

Prather was admitted to the bar in Waco in 1871 and practiced here almost 30 years before being tapped as chairman of the board of regents of the University of Texas.

Illustrations from the Prospectus of the Waco Oil and Gas Co. tout the possibility of gushers (or just a slow and steady income stream) for those willing to pony up $30 per lot for 3,240 lots available on a 10-acre site in South Bosque.
The Texas Collection at Baylor University photo

On Feb. 3, 1875, Prather married Frances H. Kirkpatrick, and they had five children.

He was made acting president of the university in 1899 and president in 1900, a post he held until his death of heart failure in 1905.

Prather often preached that the president should promote the university, that the university should serve the state and that the students should remember that their fellow citizens looked to them for leadership.

His admonition, “The eyes of Texas are upon you,” later gave rise to the university song of the same name. 

Sources: Handbook of Texas Online; Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online; Texas Oil & Gas Since 1543, by C. A. Warner; Waco Oil News, Prospectus of the Waco Oil and Gas Company.

Another illustration from the Prospectus of the Waco Oil and Gas Co. (The Texas Collection at Baylor University photo)