The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 50, July 1946 - April, 1947 Page: 46
582 p. : ill. (some col.), maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
dreds of people for miles around; and an excursion train brought
other hundreds of visitors. J. E. Powers of Chicago, Illinois,
was the auctioneer. Judge M. B. Briggs of Gilmer was named as
legal adviser. In order to conform to certain technicalities un-
der which Texas statutes forbade "lotteries" in connection with
town-lot auction sales, the title was executed by three trustees,
elected for the occasion, namely--H. W. Wiseman of Cleburne,
Texas; George McDaniel of Abilene, Texas; and Dr. J. P. Brun-
ton of Frederick, Oklahoma. Thus was created the Special Town-
Lot Deed, City of Electra, Texas, used in the transfer of title
for all real estate in the original town site.
M. V. Adams of Blum drew the high prize in the sale, the
large general merchandise store at the corner of South Main
Street and Front Avenue. He was offered and refused to take
$3,000 for the property, bought at $50. Many other pieces of
property, however, changed hands several times before the deeds
were finally delivered.
The growth of the town was rapid. Supported by the newly
developed agricultural lands in the Red River Valley, it became
a shipping center for wheat, corn, cotton, and hogs. It retained
its pre-eminence also as a cattle-shipping center as the herds
on near-by ranches were improved with introduction of pure-
bred breeding stock. Dairying and poultry raising played a
prominent part in the rapidly mounting resources.
Traces of oil had been found on the town site when Waggoner
had a deep well drilled in 1900, hoping to secure water for his
cattle. A second and a third attempt to uncover a supply of
artesian water proved equally disappointing, and after the wells
were abandoned, the oil which rose to within a few feet of the
top of the ground proved useful to farmers and ranchers who
used it to dope cattle to rid them of stock flies and ticks. It
was also used in combatting bluebugs which infested hen-
houses. In 1906 representatives of an oil company in Pitts-
burgh, Pennsylvania, secured a block of leases for a proposed
oil test. The project was abandoned because Waggoner, who
owned a greater portion of the land wanted, refused to lease.
He later leased a large tract to the Producers Oil Company,
which started its first oil test on August 8, 1909, the location
being adjacent to the town site on the south. Drilled to a depth
of 1,965 feet, it was abandoned. Other tests followed in 1910,
three being pronounced to be dry holes, but the fifth well was
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 50, July 1946 - April, 1947, periodical, 1947; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101117/m1/62/: accessed May 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.