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"King of the Wildcatters" The Life and Times of Tom Slick, 1883–1930 by Ray Miles |
American Association for State and Local History
Certificate of Commendation, 1997, and the Oklahoma Historical Society's Outstanding Book on Oklahoma History Award
". . . Miles gives us a highly readable biography of an intriguing person and a welcome addition to the history of oil's first century."—Southwestern Historical Quarterly
" . . . an informative and well-written account of the life of one of the most successful and best known independents of an earlier time. It belongs on the shelf of any reader with special interest in the histories of the domestic oil industry and of Oklahoma."—Western Historical Quarterly
Tom Slick was a legend among the "independents"—those who hunted for oil the way mountain men hunted for furs.
"King of the Wildcatters" gives a colorful picture of both Tom Slick and the early years of America's oil industry. It also describes the birth of the oil conservation movement, of which Slick was one of the earliest proponents, and examines the first generation of oilmen who sought fortunes in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas.
Even after upgrading his office from his buggy to a posh Oklahoma City suite, Slick's style remained hands-on. His impromptu deals were often brokered on street corners and over telephones in his laconic style. Well into the 1920s he still had no stockholders or board members to answer to, and instead "worked out of his hip pocket."
The growth of Slick's oil business paralleled that of the modern petroleum industry. He began his career in the oil fields of western Pennsylvania before 1910. Failures there prompted his move to Oklahoma. In 1912 he received the financial backing to drill one more well, which turned out to be the discovery well for the vast Cushing Field. In 1929 he sold his Oklahoma holdings in the Prairie Oil and Gas Company—the largest sale of oil properties by an individual to that date.
RAY MILES is a professor of history and dean of the College of Liberal Arts at McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
Number Nine: Kenneth E. Montague Series in Oil and Business History
"King of the Wildcatters"
1-58544-399-9 paper $19.95
LC 96-20128. 6 1/8x9 1/4. 178 pp. 8 b&w photos. 6 maps. Bib. Index.
Business History.
Publication Date: October 1996.
NEW IN PAPER AUGUST 2004
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