Who drilled the first well in the East Texas Oil Field?

A.

Herbert Hoover

B.

Ross Sterling

C.

Columbus Marion Joiner

D.

Huey Long

Lyne T. Barret drilled Texas' first producing oil well in 1866 at Melrose in Nacogdoches County. The following year, Amory Reily Starr and Peyton F. Edwards brought in a well at nearby Oil Springs.

Several early attempts were made to produce oil in the area, beginning in 1911, with the failed Millville Oil Company, but drilling technology had not progressed sufficiently to reach oil at the depths it is found there, which are mainly below 3,501 feet (1,067 m); most early wells ended in broken bits, dry holes, and bankrupt operators. Finally, an enterprising Alabama man, Columbus Marion (Dad) Joiner, was the first with enough persistence to succeed, and on October 3, 1930, his Daisy Bradford No. 3 well (named after the widow who owned the farm) hit oil at 3,536 feet (1,078 m) below ground