THE OMAHA DAILY BEE, Nebraska, Jan. 14, 1901

• Discovery of oil gusher in Beaumont, Texas
• Beginning of the Great Spindletop oil well

Although discoveries were made in various locations long before this date, this discovery--to be known as Spindletop--marked the emergence of the oil industry at a time when the automobile and other industries were experiencing rapid growth, coinciding with the need for this new product.
The discovery of oil in Beaumont, Texas, was the beginning of the oil industry in Texas. When the well struck on January 10, 1901 it would gusher uncontrollably for 8 days before being capped.
Near the bottom of page 7 is the very historic report headed: "Big Gusher Down In Texas" "Well Sunk Near Sabine Pass Producing 15,000 Barrels a Day. All of Which Goes to Waste." The report notes in part: "...made the most important oil discovery of the last ten years...he drilled in a mighty pusher in south-eastern Texas...was flowing the full of the six inch casting, estimated 15,000 barrels a day..." with more.
Eight pages, light toning, a few small binding slits along spine, generally nice condition. Should be handled with care.

Background: This January 14, 1901 issue of The Omaha Daily Bee captures the immediate, real-time national reportage of the world-altering Lucas Gusher at Spindletop—the historic blow-out near Beaumont, Texas, just four days earlier that birthed the modern petroleum industry and transformed liquid crude into the primary energy source of the twentieth century. Early journalistic dispatches of major historical turning points are remarkably scarce due to the fragile wood-pulp newsprint of the era and low survival rates of daily editions; holding a complete eight-page original with a vivid, page-seven headline ("Big Gusher Down In Texas") declaring a flow of 15,000 barrels a day going to waste makes this an exceptional, highly collectible artifact of American industrial and Texas oil history.