Why Santa Rita?
Mr. Frank Pickrell was one of the partners responsible for the drilling of the Santa Rita No. 1. The reason for the name "Santa Rita" is best told in Frank Pickrell's own words:
"The name of Santa Rita really originated in New York. Some of the stock salesmen had encouraged a group of Catholic women to invest in the Group I certificates. These women became a little worried about the wisdom of their investment and consulted with their priest. He apparently was also somewhat skeptical and suggested that the women invoke the aid of Santa Rita, who was the patron saint of the impossible. As I was leaving New York on one of my subsequent trips to the field, two of these women handed me a sealed envelope and told me that the envelope contained a red rose that had been blessed by the priest in the name of the saint. The women asked me to take the rose back to Texas with me -- to climb to the top of the derrick and scatter the rose petals, which by then were dry, over the rig and to say 'I hereby christen thee Santa Rita'. I faithfully followed those instructions."
Santa Rita No. 1 - History
- From 1917 - 1919 more than 5000 oil and gas exploration permits were issued by the General Land Office for University Lands.
- No exploration was attempted until 1921.
- On August 23, 1921 (just 4 hours prior to the expiration of the applicable permit) the historic Santa Rita No. 1 was spudded in Section 2, Block 2, University Lands, Reagan County.
- Drilling continued for almost two years at the drill site which was isolated by a shortage of adequate roads and limited transportation facilities. It has been said that the only sounds came from the rig, roadrunners and rattlesnakes.
- Finally the historic day arrived on May 28, 1923, when a rattlesnake noise began at the well bore and changed to the sound of a wild prairie wind. Santa Rita came in with oil blowing over the top of the derrick and spraying the countryside. The first well drilled on University Lands, Santa Rita No. 1, was officially transformed into a bona fide oil well.
- The first oil royalty payment to the Permanent University Fund was made on August 24, 1923 in the amount of $516.53.