Anthony Francis Lucas

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Anthony Francis Lucas

Anthony Francis Lucas (September 9, 1855 – September 2, 1921) was a Croatian-born mechanical engineer responsible for the first successful oil well at the Spindletop oil field in Southeast Texas, which made Beaumont, Texas one of the first oil boomtowns. This led to the earliest massive exploitation of oil and petroleum ^[1] and the start of the Liquid Fuel Age. ^[2]

Early life

Lucas was born Antun Lučić to the Croatian family of shipbuilders and owners,^{[3] [4] [5] [6]} Franjo Stjepan Lučić, in the city of Split (now in Croatia), then part of the Habsburg monarchy.

At the age of twenty Lucas completed studies at the Polytechnical Institute (Technische Hochschule) in Graz, Austria, becoming the mechanical engineer. It was exactly the same time when another famous individual from what is now Croatia, Nikola Tesla, was studying at the same school. After entering the Austrian Naval Academy, serving in Pula and Rijeka, Lučić rose to the rank of second lieutenant.

Visit to U.S.

In 1879, Lučić visited his uncle in the U.S., in Saginaw, Michigan. There he settled and changed his name to Anthony Francis Lucas, receiving his naturalization papers on May 9, 1885 at Norfolk, Virginia. ^[7] He married Caroline Weed Fitzgerald, and soon afterwards, with their son, Anthony Fitzgerald Lucas, moved to Washington, D.C. in 1887. First, he found employment in lumber industry. Later, with an interest in mining, he ranged from Colorado peaks to the plains of Louisiana prospecting for gold and rock salt.

In 1893, Lucas started to work in salt exploration in Louisiana for a New Orleans company at Petite Anse (Avery Island). He worked at additional locations, (Grand Cote, Anse la Butte and Belle Isle), until 1896, gaining experience which led to his most promising of idea of the possible relationship between the salt deposits and the sulfur, (most probably even crude oil), in the tertiary sediments of the Gulf Coast region. Most mainstream geologists disagreed with Lucas's theory. However, as a result of explorations undertaken up to that point and his experience, he was foremost expert on these formations in the United States.

The Lucas Gusher at Spindletop. Jan 10, 1901

In 1899, Lucas became drilling contractor and leased the land south of Beaumont, Texas from the oil explorer Pattillo Higgins. He believed that the site - Spindletop hill south of Beaumont - was covering a vast pool of crude oil. Drilling began in late 1900 but was extremely difficult. At the depth of 60 meters^[8], a layer of sand was found. Later the equipment, a new rotating hydraulic drill, collapsed upon reaching a depth of approximately 275 meters. Able to deal with technical difficulties on his own but short on money, Lucas asked for help from John Rockefeller, of Standard Oil. Rockefeller passed but not before persuading John H. Galey and James M. Guffey, associates of the Mellon family from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to join the project. After reaching the depth of 370 meters, in 10:30 AM on January 10, 1901, gas erupted followed by the stream of crude oil reaching the height of 60 meters. The eruption lasted nine days and was stopped by one of Lučić's devices.

The Lucas Gusher, also called the Lucas Spindletop Gusher, produced around 14 000 tons of oil a day. The occasion witnessed by about 50,000 spectators was the earliest mass exploitation of the crude oil in the entire world. Soon, a black gold rush began, and entrepreneurs from all over poured into Texas. The city population mushroomed from 8,000 to 60,000 within a year. By 1902 as many as 285 wells were operating on Spindletop Hill and over 600 oil companies had been chartered. Lucas possessed just a tiny share in a company he helped to establish. Because of this and other reasons, he left the company at the end of 1901.

The discovery revolutionized world fuel use as well as transforming the economy of Southeast Texas. It helped the development of the recently-invented automobile, and its manufacture since significant amounts of new energy was needed for the new kind of transportation. With time, the city of Houston become the national center of the oil industry, with the United States surpassing Russia as the world's leading producer.

Anthony Francis Lucas's broad knowledge of geology enabled him to differentiate prospective fields from those considered unsuitable for exploration. He learned about natural properties of petroleum reservoirs (also mineral deposits), and is considered to be the founder of modern petroleum reservoir engineering. He later served as a consulting engineer in Romania, Russia, Mexico, Algeria, as well as other parts of the U.S.. As successful businessman and undisputed expert in mining, Lucas was the lifelong chairman of American Committee for Oil and Gas.

Inventions and Applications

A great number of Lucas inventions, scientific or technical knowledges were applied in early oil exploration and extraction, with most still being employed. Some are:

• overhead method of mining in salt mines
• surface exploration of underground mineral deposits
• application of steam-driven, hydraulic-rotary drilling rig and of mud in oil well drilling
• construction and application of back pressure valve
• use of clay for drilling fluids
• construction of blowout, so called "killing" equipment
• designing of well logs
• invention of the Christmas tree

Heritage

Lucas died on September 2, 1921 in Washington, D.C.. He was often mistakenly described as Austrian, sometimes even as a Trieste-born Italian. On his grave in Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, D.C. he described to be of Illyric origin, which is what the standard term for Croatian was at the time.

In 1936 the American Institute for Geological and Metallurgical Investigations founded the Anthony F. Lucas Gold Medal prize ^[9] for development in the area of oil exploration. A museum with a granite obelisk was built to honor the explorer about which is inscribed: "On this spot on the tenth day of the twentieth century a new era in civilization began". ^{[1] [10] [11]} Lucas's discovery revolutionized industry and transport, revived the industrial revolution and changed lives of millions around the world. As the true pioneer of oil mining, Anthony F. Lucas is considered among 200 of the most importnat Americans in the country's history. According to National Public Radio (NPR) he helped to transform the United States into a superpower. ^[12] A street and an elementary school bear his name in the City of Beaumont, Texas.

External links

• Darko Žubrinić, with permission of Mr. Adam S. Eterovich, Santa Clara, USA (2002) "[12]". LUCICH DISCOVERY OF OIL AT SPINDLETOP, TEXAS.

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} [1] Texas History: Oil's Big Day
2. ^ [2] The Liquid Fuel Age
3. ^ [3] From Croatian-Americans at www.everyculture.com
4. ^ [4] An article from Franco di Cesare
5. ^ [5] American Biographies K thru R
6. ^ [6] Lucich-Lucas Goes to America, Antun Lučić declaring himself as Croatian
7. ^ [7] Lucich-Lucas Goes to America
8. ^ convert to feet for US/UK readers
9. ^ [8] The American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Anthony F. Lucas Gold Medal
10. ^ [9] Legend of Spindletop
11. ^ [10] Gusher Monument and Replica Oil Boomtown
12. ^ [11] Centennial of Spindletop