Reinventing Texas: The Legacy of Santa Rita No.1

The oil well known as Santa Rita No. 1 had a tremendous effect on both higher education in Texas, especially the University of Texas and Texas A&M University, and the region in which it was drilled, the Permian Basin. Santa Rita No. 1 became the spark for reinventing Texas, igniting an economic conflagration that transformed the Permian Basin into the nation’s most productive oil producing region, reshaped the local ranching population into an urban, petroleum-oriented culture, and created one of the largest endowments supporting higher education in the United States. In 2023, one hundred years after Santa Rita No. 1 began producing, its legacy is alive and well. In the Permian Basin, a dynamic oilfield culture continues to produce a significant part of the nation’s energy, while it supports higher education at the University of Texas, Texas A&M University, and the many schools associated with each through their respective systems.

BOBBY D. WEAVER, born on November 6, 1936, in Coryell County, Texas, near Gatesville, graduated from high school in 1955 and sporadically attended night school at Odessa College while working in the oilfield and later a petrochemical plant. In January 1969, he transferred to Texas Technological College, whence he graduated in December 1970 with a B.A. in History. Weaver then moved to Corpus Christi to work for Reynolds Metal Company but enrolled in night classes at Texas A&I University (now Texas A&M University-Kingsville). He graduated with an M.A. in History in August 1972. In the Fall of 1974, he entered the Ph.D. program in History at Texas Tech University. He was a Field Representative for the Southwest Collection while working on his dissertation. In 1979, he went to work for the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum in Canyon, where in 1984 he completed his dissertation on Castro’s Colony, which was published by Texas A&M University Press. In the spring of 1988 Weaver went to work for the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City as its Assistant Director, whence he retired at the end of 2001. Weaver has published several books including Panhandle Petroleum, European Folk Islands in Northwest Texas, Oilfield Trash, Hotter Than Pecos, and History of the National Cowboy Museum. He has also written more than 350 articles.