What was the name of the famous 1901 oil gusher at Spindletop?

The famous 1901 oil gusher at Spindletop was called the Lucas Gusher.

The name honors Captain Anthony F. Lucas, the mining engineer and salt-dome specialist who organized the successful drilling effort. Lucas partnered with Pattillo Higgins, whose interest in the gas seeps and mound south of Beaumont helped draw attention to the site. Financial backing came through John H. Galey, James M. Guffey, and Andrew Mellon, while the Hamill brothers handled the drilling.

The well reached approximately 1,139 feet before erupting on January 10, 1901. Oil reportedly shot 150 feet into the air at a rate estimated between 70,000 and 100,000 barrels per day. The well roared for nine days until workers devised equipment, including a Christmas tree, to control it.

“Gladys Gusher” is a tempting distractor because the nearby speculative settlement was called Gladys City, and the later museum is named the Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum. “Beaumont Gusher” describes the location informally, but it is not the canonical name. Drake Gusher refers to the earlier 1859 Pennsylvania oil well.