Here is the link to the Colorado frack stories…cogcc.state.co.us/RR_HF2012/
Here is the link to this Traces of Texas Facebook post…..
Traces of Texas reader Debbie Garner thoughtfully sent in this nifty photograph of her father working on a drilling rig in Andrews, Texas back in 1952. Her dad is the second man from the right. After this picture was taken, her dad was hurt on the job, breaking his arm in 17 different places. The man on the left, Jay, was the pusher and rode with with her father in the ambulance from Andrews to El Paso. Out of the five men pictured, three were killed in oilfield accidents.
Thank you, Debbie! Incredible view of some hard working men!
— with Donna Jarrett.-
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Tim Fortner Hard way to make a living.-
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Steve Newhouse I’ll bet those guys liked a cold one or two after a long hard day was over.-
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Robert Cawley That’s the year I was hatched !! -
Barbara Mosher Finger dangerous job -
Gina Blake Wow, thanks. -
Doris Rogers Orebaugh Just for my favorite granson Ryan Rauch providing us with oil! -
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Cheryl Dusty You know, instead of the article I read earlier today about taking middle school kids (w/o parents permission) to a porn store, what if part of kids education was to learn how and where things came from that they use or consume every day, like oil, gasoline, all the products that come from petroleum, where the meat in the grocery comes from, the veggies, the clothes they wear, the cell phones they carry. That would impress upon kids that we, as a nation, need to consume only after we’ve produced something.-
Lloyd Junior Van Bevers Where did this happen? The porn store bit. -
Troy Moore Talk to a trucker !!!! -
Tami Dickison Minnesota -
Ronnie Crawford We used to learn many of these things in school, though they weren’t part of the curriculum. I also remember being able to recite all 50 states and their capitols, in addition to being able to name every continent, many major countries on each continent, and their capitols as well. History, geography, and science were all major courses then, but barely taught today, if at all. Science is taught still, but in the form of opinions, which isn’t science at all.
Every teacher, regardless of the class, or subject, was pretty strict about correcting your grammar and your spelling, too. And they weren’t afraid of showing you the flexibility of the flesh against the firmness of a plank of wood, either. -
Mike Duffy I agree kids need to learn where and how pickles and coleslaw are grown. Also, how gasoline is milked from dinosaurs. Teaching to the test and convincing kids that increased snow are results of global warming are ultimately dumbing down kids. -
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Mike Farris Things are different in the patch now. Safety is everything. My Dad joined the Marines at 18 to leave Odessa at the oil patch. Said the Marines was easier and safer. -
Carolyn Coughlin My older brother worked in Odessa in the 1950’s. I think they called them rough necks or ? He was as strong as an ox…he later went over seas to work doing same thing…he was just 18 when he started doing that work but he was very mature for his age. Hard working guy…He came back to Texas and bought a gas station in Ft Worth and a couple of rental properties…he died of a brain tumor at the age of 39. He would be 76 yrs old today…His name : Jimmy Slaughter, if any of the old oil well workers are still around that might have known him. When he first found out about the brain tumor, he was operated on at Baylor in Dallas TX. He was in the same room with a Dallas Cowboy football player. The nurses all came in to see the football player and all thought Jimmy was the football player as he looked the part. When the football player found out my brother had the brain tumor, he was so upset. He said he was getting the hell outa there because if they found a tumor in Jimmy as big, muscular and strong as Jimmy was, well, he wasn’t stickin’ round . He got up and left right then and there before his results came in.-
Gayle Lynn Summers Sorry for your loss. I worked in oilfield trucking company (Levelland)..1978-2008, several oil fields (locations) with Slaughter in the name. -
Bud Morris They called the workers roughnecks on the rotary rigs and jar heads on the cable tool rigs… -
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Johnia Hawkins Garcia Love this pic . My grandaddy was killed in Denver City ,Texas , Feb 11 1963 , oil field accident . My dad also worked on drilling rigs , as Derrick man , driller then pushed … We’ve always been oilfield . Hard work by tough men . -
Tiana Sigel I was raised in the west Texas oilfields, our Dad FM Anderson ( Ike ) was a driller for Delta Gulf. He worked the oilfields from the time he was 17 until he got out in 1951. Decided he would get out while he was ahead . Bought a nice place for his family , raised a cow and calf every year, and while leghorn chickens and become a truck driver hauling gravel . If any of you out there have ever heard of Ike Anderson, give me a shout . This was many years ago, he passed in 1965………….a very happy man. He had beat poverty from the goat herding of San Angelo Texas. -
Wes Massey My dad was caught in a rig explosion in that area in the early 50’s. Burned over 60 percent of his body. Lots of injuries an deaths in the oil field. My question is why El Paso from Andrews? Odessa or Midland would have been much closer-
Chad L. Harvey Back then our hospitals probably couldn’t handle major traumas -
Bobbie Ann Blair My in laws lived in Odessa during that time and there was really no Odessa- Midland proper. .. it was an empty desert. El Paso was probably the closest place to a real hospital that could have helped an injury like that. When I lived in Odessa in 76 there was the little Medical center and a new Womens Children’s hospital, can’t imagine they had much there 20 something years before. -
Wes Massey Honestly all of that was WAY before my time. Only right member my parents talk about it an I can’t remember where dad was hospitalized for his burns. Only know that while he was in the hospital his younger brother was killed back in East Texas an dad insisted on being there for the funeral. They said the drive itself nearly killed him. He was one tough ol bird lol -
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Diane Lusk Such an under-explored time in Texas history. My dad and his brothers began drilling around 1948-49. My dad worked in oil industry his whole adult life. I have many strong memories growing up regarding his work. Enjoyed this post very much. Thank you! -
Lance Pickard Andrews to El Paso by ambulance? Back then, 5 hour haul at least. Might have asked for Lubbock or Abilene. Tough men. -
Kenneth Moore My dad lost part of his thumb on a rig. Worked in the Tomball area. Yea, I’m an oilfield brat like most of you Native Texans. -
D’Ann Hurta Have a tender heart for men who made a living in the oil field. Hard and dangerous work in days gone bye. Oil field fed us and educated us. Thank you, Daddy -
Todd Humphreys God Bless all the Oilfield hands, and Texas too! -
Alton Rhoden Yea The Word WORK sure has changed over the years! -
Kimberly Madsen-Cline Love this picture. I started my career in Odessa on rigs as a mudlogger when it was bad luck for a woman to be on location at all. Many trips to the dog house to record drillers depth and watch as they tripped pipe or added a joint-
Lois Zeller i had a daughter iwho roughnecked in the 70s -
Shaine Boehler My grand mother did to in the 70s no one ever believes me that she taught me how to throw a half hitch. She was in Denver city though -
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Kenneth Winfrey I just left Andrews Texas. I delivered a piece of an oil rig there for H&P. -
Margie Reynolds I can’t believe this the picture of the pusher,is my deceased husband uncle John Reynolds, he was pusher for a crew from Midland. He went on job’s all over west Texas. When the oil went down, he went to Alaska opened his own tool company and died worth millions. -
Diane Gafford Williamson Born and bred in the oilfield. Love the life, hard as it is but I’m a Texas girl and it’s in my blood. Love all those hard workin’ guys coz they never let on what hard work it was they just went out and did it, got hurt and went right back to it. -
Kay White It was a very rough way to earn a living. My dad, Andrew J. (Andy or A.J.) worked for Humble for 25 years until his death in 1960. It was a unique lifestyle and we lived all over west Texas and eastern New Mexico, sometimes in “poor boy camps (a managerie of trucked-in houses, trailers, etc.- usually owned by the employees)”, sometimes in our own homes on our own property and sometimes in standard camps (company built cookie cutter houses with yards which might or might not be maintained by the company). I, myself lived in six different towns between the time I was born in Hobbs and he died when we lived in Midkiff. -
Marcia Williams Don’t tell Momma I work in the oilfield, she thinks I’m a piano player at the whorehouse! -
Eugenia L. Zanone My grandfather was badly burned in a boiler explosion in the late 1920s; soon as he could he was back in the field. My dad did the same work. Proud of them both! -
Renee Minton I would recognize your father anywhere, he was a handsome man. -
Carrol Leslie Jenkins All were rigs in Texas moved around a lot worked in Rio Grand area. -
Jeffery Banta They ain’t roughnecks any more just pipe tripers-
Joseph Lee Van Dusen aka oilfield workers. -
Joseph Lee Van Dusen No real Roughnecks anymore.
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Chad L. Harvey All of us that are have moved on. We got better than that
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Jeffery Banta Yep -
Lois Zeller there are still rough necks i have 3 rough necks and a driller and a tool pusher in my family they would do nothing else
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Debbie Beall Perryman Love the little snapshots of life posted on this page! -
Jack Petree Worked in the O&G business for 38 years with an inside job. Got to visit a couple of modern working rigs in the Barnet Shale. Developed a real appreciation for these men and the really hard, and scary, work they did. Met a couple with the two middle fingers gone from wrapping chain.
I worked with a female geologist who, in her first year in the business, was sitting a well. One morning, only she and the foreman showed up. The crew was hungover from partying the night before. The foreman showed her how to the pull pipe, connect and tighten it so they could start drilling. In less than an hour, they had the well operating. The crew all showed up an hour later and were really embarrassed by the fact that a short, little “girl” was doing their job. They were never late again. -
Mike Claunch I roughnecked offshore in ’71. Got hurt twice. My mom’s first husband was killed working a rig in South Tx during the depression. Dangerous job! -
Tracy Shannon Renfro-Rosson Wow!!! My dad had a pic like this. He worked the oil rigs too, same time, same place. I was born in Andrews in 1957. My dad was burned badly on his back by a rig fire and temporarily blinded. Hard, hard work. -
Wayne Newell God Bless Amen !!! Talk about pioneers hard workin MEN -
Kimberly Jarrett Rodgers I’m so proud -
Teri Murdock My grandfather lost his leg, uncle his life and father almost lost his arm, son -in – law fights oilfield fires . Oilfield work is not for sissies! !! -
Bobby Rawls I started as a rough neck in September 1976 until last November. I met and worked with hundreds over the years. Several have been killed and Many injured. All phases of weather and working conditions. Oilfield trash and proud of it. Much respect for all I worked with. -
Debbie Buckner Glasspool Such a cool picture! My dad worked in the oil business out of Andrews and may have known these men. -
Forrest Sirguydoan There are no roughnecks any more.-
Michael Mckee Me me me -
Forrest Sirguydoan You halfass worm
Where are you and what are you doing right now??? -
Michael Mckee Houston
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Michael Mckee Studying to be a engineer for NOV
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Forrest Sirguydoan Not a roughneck
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Michael Mckee It’s my roughneck background that’s getting me this far I have a different view and approach than most of the the school kids
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Forrest Sirguydoan I built you squirrel. And dam proud of you.
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Michael Mckee And I’m sharper than I look
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Forrest Sirguydoan Sho right
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Ruth Hancock This was taken the year I was born. My daddy worked for Humble Pipe Line first in west Texas, then to Comyn, Cisco, Odessa and Andrews. We moved to Stephenville when he retired in 1970. Lots of good people in West Texas, but lots of good ones in Stephenville too. I think he and Mother were glad to be back in Erath County where they grew up and we had family. -
Joshua Land Pretty sure I moved this rig last year! Lol -
Richard J. Kelly I fondly remember my father wearing the same work attire, overalls and a steel helmet! He was employed with Phillips Petroleum Company and survived several life-threatening situations over those years. My grandfather owned an oil rig company named,“Kelly and Sons”. My father, his brothers and father erected wooden oil derricks across the country during the early part of this century and before. When my grandfather died in 1934, my father sold the company and went to work for Phillips. Great family memories! -
Harley Ashley Kinda crazy how rigs have changed! I’m on a drilling rig in Andrews right now as I type this! -
Betty Bresnahan I was born in Breckenridge,tx 1924′ oil boom town. My dad was tool pusher. After a good friend killed, he quit years later his nephew killed in explosion on oil rig. Working in oil fields dangerous job. -
Patricia Moore Zgabay Still a hard way to make a living. -
Bill Pullen My dad worked in the oil patch until a load of pipe fell on him in 1955 or so. He was lucky he didn’t die. -
Steve Lockett I worked in the oil fields back in the day. That was very hard work for very long hours. My dad would tell me, it builds caricature.-
Jay Kantor Good thing it didn’t take you long to find the gravy train. -
Steve Lockett Your right Jay, and I dinn let go! -
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Collin Phillips The third guy from the left is Burgess Meredith. Pass it on. -
Jamie Carroll When men were men. -
Shari Buchanan Longden Such a dangerous profession. Getting on and off the rigs was and is very hazardous. Dear cousin you must be a fairly dangerous man.. -
Charlotte Banta Hinrichs My daddy could’ve been in that picture! smile emoticon -
Ken Starkey Makes my back hurt, just remembering. -
J Kim Davis That was back when my Dad was roughnecking in West Texas before I was born. That photo is great! God Bless Texas and the Oil Patch. It sure has been a bumpy, memorable ride. -
Marque Ann Dunham Hard and dangerous business. -
Dawn Satterwhite Love this pic. My paternal grandfather & dad worked the West Texas oil rigs (my dad eventually retired from Welex/Halliburton). My paternal granddad was a water well driller (& “witcher”), I remember his fingers were the size of sausages from handling the equipment. -
Michaelyne Arrowood South My dad was also killed in 1963 in an oilfield accident. I still miss him today. He worked in Andrews several times, I live in Hobbs, NM and have almost all my life. -
Matt Beeman Unfortunately now we have a lot of safety and less experience which is deadly too -
Brandon Spikes Wonder who they are drilling for? -
Peggy Jo Gamble Mueller My Uncle William (Bill) Thompson worked in Andrews also. It was a Hot dirty job. -
Bill Atherton This is an outstanding picture!! -
Harry Wood Broke out in the oilfield in Andrews in 1975 -
Lori Wilson wow. terrible odds. did they have a union?-
Bryce Riggs The nature of how drilling companies then would have made organizing a drillers union impossible in any right to work state. Southeast Texas pipeline workers, refinery workers, and shoremen are heavily unionized, but virtually all other oilfield jobs are open-shop. -
Lori Wilson makes me sad to think of all those kiddos without dads- or broken dads -
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Cleta Cole My Dad lost 4 fingers in a Derick accident and his brother Tex(Hubert Redding ) lost several parts of his feet and hands…… -
Esther Coleman Flowers I can remember going up on rigs like this one in North Texas with my Dad. We owned property in that area and he kept an eye on what was happening. -
Stephanie Gilmore Sounds like a dangerous job -
Gene Mason Still a tough way to make a living -
Joe Troutt These were hard working men. -
Bob Kimberlin They were a different breed then.-
Mike Witterick That’s the breed you and I learned from -
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Paulette Cunningham My dad was a derrick man in the late 40’s in OK and TX! -
Howard Fennel My uncles were in Korea fighting at this time in history my Uncle Jack and Uncle Kenneth Fennel. -
Judy Williams My dad worked out of Andrews around 1953 as a doodlebugger. Seismic field work was a lot safer. -
Roger Bennett Yeah, it has changed a lot ! When I was growing up I knew several men without all their fingers … now it is kind of rare to see missing fingers -
Melvin Hoskins Some of the tasks involved with working on a rig like this required split-second timing. Sometimes, if the timing was off, terrible things happened. -
Dwain Culpepper and people speak of the OSHA as if it were a bad thing,,,,,,countless lives have been lost to shortcuts and other safety violations,,,,,before they were any violations……just whatever the bossman wanted… -
Carolyn Coughlin My son, Mike, works for oil company in Big Spring, TX.
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Valdie Reynolds Thats state of the art technology for 1952. -
Kenneth Curley I rememer that era,I worked for Ray Heart drilling Co out of Odessa in 1954,my brother in-law Frank Green was district Mgr working for Western Chemical Co and lived in Andrews in 1952. -
Suzanne SuzanneSuzanne Rickey Alexander, I know you can relate to this pic. Not that you were working in the oilfields in 1952, but your dad probably was. And it probably wasn’t that different when you started there in your teens. -
Charlotte Mac Donald My Daddy, Grandpa, and great uncle, and several uncles worked in the oil fields. My great uncle was killed in an accident in the oil field. My Daddy suffered serious injuries . -
Sonjal Woods Before OCEA for sure! These men and ones like the were and still are the BACK BONE OF OUR COUNTRY!! -
Bud Morris The oil patch supported a lot of people… My Dad and my Grandfather were both charter members of the Permian Basin Oil Pioneers. You had to work in the oil fields of West Texas prior to 1927 to be a charter member.. My Dad got his first drilling job when he was fifteen years old…My Grandfather was still working 12 hour tours seven days a week on a Cable Tool rig when he was 82 yrs old. They laid him off when the found out his age… Not because he couldn’t do the job,because he could sling that 16 pound sledgehammer with the best of them, but because of his age they were afraid that he would get hurt… I worked morning tour ( 11pm to 7am ) my Sr. Year of high school in Pecos, Tx. dressing tools for my Dad on a cable tool rig in the oilfield close to Wink and Kermit in 1958/59… I was making more money than some of my classmates fathers… But in fairness, I was working 7 days a week… The oilfield was good to our family… Dad and Mama raised five children on the oilfield money… But it was dangerous as my Dad broke his back once and they said he would never walk again…. He was in a cast from his shoulders to his hips for fourteen months and on crutches for three years… Got a job with the US Post Office and worked up to Assistant Postmaster… As soon as he could lay down those crutches, back to the oil patch he went.. I guess it was just in his blood… They were a different breed of men… I was in it myself for 25 yrs or so, eventually going to school in Houston,Tx and becoming a Mud Engineer ( Drilling Fluids Consultant )…when the drilling shut back in 1982, I went back to another love ( building airplanes ) a lot of rambling by Me but you can see that I have a lot of respect and admiration for all the workers that gave their all for the oil fields of Texas… -
Johnny Seay The time of my above comment was 1958. -
Johnny Seay Great post. Some of the toughest men ever. When I was 18 years old I live in at Millers Boarding House in Shreveport, La. I was the one there who wasn’t a Rough Nick. They served 3 meals a day at very long table. You had to be careful reaching for a bowl of anything are you might get and arm broke. Lol
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Brandon Hicks I bet they made 100$ a week doing it to!! -
Bruce Hammond Oilfield safety has come a long way since then. -
Bryan Mattison My grandfather lost most of his right hand in a Kelly wrench. -
Faith McMillian Yvonne Thornburg , my daddy retired from Noble drilling -
Jane Hawkins My dad was a “Tool Pusher” as well. He witnessed the death of big brother in an oil field accident in 1945, in Corpus Christi, Texas. Dad was an Aggie who lived by a rough work ethic……”There shall be be no regrets”! Was well respected by the “ Rough Necks” who worked under his supervision. He worked in the industry until 1967 when. He passed away from lung cancer… The effect of a lifetime of smoking Camel cigarettes! -
Roy Wade Richardson That old rotary floor and sling chain deadly combination then the bucking pipe too -
Brenda Gilmore I am a product of the oil fields and proud of it. 1950’s and 1960’s. My daddy was in the drilling business from 1930’s till his death. We moved a lot and I loved it. Made great friends, saw places others will never see. Oil field people are the best, give you the shirt off their back. Miss it. -
Jeff Davis This is real roughnecks -
Tom Gibbs Dangerous way to make a living. I was about 15 or 16 and was up at Carrol and Lehre Funeral Home. My Dad was doing some work in the back and they brought a man in that had fell off an oil rig. His head was not covered. I can still see the look on his face like it was yesterday and the yellow color of his skin. First time to see a dead person before being prepared for viewing:( -
Allen Mcneely Awesome -
Donna Armstrong Mayes My Daddy worked on the Derrick. He had his thumb broken @ Smashed numerous times from handling tongs! He had a chance to get out of the oil rigs & worked for Andrews County! Thinking it was a much safer job, it eventually killed him! He was the maintainer operator & after years of eating dust from keeping the roads in the county drive able, it ate holes in his lungs & he died from COPD! One of the things you can’t do for someone else is breathe for them! Think about this smokers the next time you light up! -
Carla Jeane Suttee Coffee What company did he work for, I wonder. -
Bobbie Ann Blair I lived in Odessa during the 70’s and 80’s . .in 83 the oil field jobs were the only ones men could get and they would hire them without experience. A friend of mine was desperate for a job and went to work as a rough neck lost his hand first day out. I remember seeing the insurance payouts for body parts written on their hard hats …everybody knew it was a dangerous and deadly occupation. But I still have a lot of good memories of living in an oilfield town. -
Curtis McBride I worked the floor a rig back in hi school “62, hard work, the boss who hired me told I was too mall, I was 5’7” and 135#, but I wanted a job, I worked on a “work over” for 3 days and then moved on to a rig, worked the tongs and chains, no one laughed again, oh and min wage, 1.25 an hour and 84 hrs a week. -
Patricia C. Mints Oil field trash…an proud of it. My father grew up in a tarpaper shack during the boom in Burkburnett and worked for Staley & Wynne at Rockcrossing which was later Phillips 66 Petroleum. -
Peggy Langston That was a hard way to make a living. It takes real red blooded men. -
Bonnie Heffington My grandpa was a driller -
Rhonda LeGros People these days just don’t understand how hard it is to produce that barrel of oil! Third generation oil patch here. smile emoticon -
Michael Mayben Absolutely! -
Dianna Dickey My Dad lost his little finger! -
Mary Bowden Kaylor When did Dad work on the rigs? It was before this, wasn’t it? -
Lindasue Mcclintock Guerrero Pictures like this bring back many memories for me. The smells the sounds, sleeping in the dog house. -
Othella Noble Been there did that not easy -
Kay Anglin My Dad started there in 1957, roustabout, then pusher. -
Tresa Phelps So sad. More than half the men in the photo were killed. Tragic. I have many family members who lost digits in the multiples from oilfield labor. -
Alice Herrera Amazing,hard working men.you must be so proud. -
Joyce Ballard Any of those could have been my dad -
Jeff Coale Is that Charlie sheen on the far right? -
Billy Roberts My uncle Leonard did that too. He lived in Andrews. -
David Gordon Rigs were wooden. Men were iron -
Sandie Hunt Craft God bless & keep safe all rig workers -
Troy Moore I broke out on a offshore rig built in 1967. That drill floor looks very familiar !!! -
Yvonne Thornburg My dad worked on one of these all my childhood.He worked mostly for Noble drilling company. -
Will Fleischer Jimbo Swan, thought you might like this. -
Marion Sheffield My daddy was a tool pusher on a rig. Unfortunately he was killed when a catline broke and pulled him into the machinery. It was eight days before Christmas. I’ll never forget it. -
Janie Furtick Barringer I love Andrews Tx!! -
Mark Harrelson Brings back memories of my rig days! -
Jere H. Madison Friend of mine lost three fingers on one hand to a chain. The had to reset his thumb and pinkie finger at funky angles to he could hold and pick up stuff. -
Dana Bryson Kerby Dangerous work during hard economic times. -
Diane Pearson Schiffer Truly a tough and dangerous job that these men did. -
Trey Kincade Dirty money -
Pat Sreenan GRE:-) at photograph. -
Sherry Martin Gaillard My daddy worked driving a heavy equipment oil field truck for 45 years. He had an accident that required his wedding band to be cut off to prevent loosing it. I have it melted into a free form nugget on a chain. Yes, these men were real men. He never complained and worked like a dog. Of course, it was better than share cropping which he did until he went to “town” and became a truck driver. -
Helen Kincheloe my dad was to but thank GOD he survived 2 accident’s and then quit. -
Glenn Parker My dad worked as a roughneck for Tri-Service out of Midland for about 25 years. I worked with him as a summer college job got about 4 months. Made me appreciate my father a hell of a lot more and forged a bond that lasted the rest of his life. Love you Willie. -
Dustin Shaffer Reminds me of some pictures of my PawPaw! -
Bill Bryant some scary jobs back then, lots of new safety measures these days, but still dangerous -
Randy Cobb Tough job …. Tough people. -
Carolyn M Rauch be safe -
Deborah Garner My name; Dad was in oil in West Tx, but not me or my Dad! Haha! Although my Dad did have to jump off a burning oil rig and broke his back and both feet. Tough business! -
Donald Grisham My Dad also was a hard working roughneck, then driller, and then tool pusher in the oilfields. -
John Brumlow How did they make that pipe square.. . lol-
Bud Morris That square pipe is part of the Kelly that turns the drill pipe in combination with the rotary table it slides through…
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Carrol Leslie Jenkins My stepdad was a ruff neck and a pusher his friend was a derick man it was hard work moved around a lot my stepdad had to quit when heavy equipment fell and crushed his foot.
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John Brumlow The hard hats were probably Mac Donalds…spelling maybe wrong…made out of aluminum….
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Danny Crawford u could tell who was the pusher,, all Clean clothes, and all.. -
Jack Comeaux Great pic All my family on my moms side are Garners from Electra Texas big oil town back then -
Wayne Weisenberger The new roughnecks have no idea what it was like to throw a chain. Most newer rigs only use tongs on collars & bits. I laugh when the youngsters ask me what the chain was for -
Georganna Gerth I so enjoy this page -
Michael Wilson I rough necked from 1965 – 1969 on rotary rigs to put myself through college. No OSHA. No chain or belt guards. It was dangerous. Good money. But, dangerous.I still have a hard hat with the sides squashed in. I got my head trapped between stands of d
rill collars when we were coming out of the hole. I was a few milli-seconds away from having my brains squashed flat.I finally told my Dad (driller) that I’d had enough. I was going to be a chemist. I needed my hands, fingers and feet for that.
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Patrice Wilson Brown Harris I liked getting to “oil the kelly” -
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Teresa Scurlock God Bless the Oilfield and the hardworking people in it!-
Teresa Scurlock My Husband has been in it for 30 years! -
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Maria Elena Olivares DeOchoa Love thank you -
Tyrell Whyte Reading all these older guys comments about how Kelly’s are dangerous and to hard to work on! I’m 20 and Kelly’s are all I know but If you can’t handle the floor stay in the cellar!! Wicked old picture thou! -
Wannell Parkman Piercey Incredible photo. -
Randy Evans If we haven’t accomplished anything else in the oilfield, it is a much safer environment now. I am very happy with that improvement. -
John Nissen No Caitlyn here !! -
Benny Bridger God Bless White Privileged Folks…………….. -
Lloyd Junior Van Bevers Never could throw a chain Bob. But to my limited credit, never needed to have that skill but once in 13 years. The main point is, back then, men were men! -
Doyle Davis Three out of five!?? I hope that is not the industry standard! -
Charles Murray Didn’t Midland have a hospital in 52? Andrews was only 40 or 50 miles away, depending on the rig’s location. Must have required a specialist? Abilene was much closer too?-
Chad L. Harvey Our hospital still isn’t equipped for major trauma. I broke both femurs in 2012 and was flown to Lubbock. They couldn’t handle it
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Charles Murray Thanks Chad! I didn’t know. Most of us West Texans know all these distances too well! -
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Christie Barrett Wow. -
Danny Heath Dangerous work -
Jennifer Rice Awesome picture. Thank you for sharing! -
Debbie Smith Wow thanks -
Barbara Chandler Pat Feuerbacher I have a book that shows pictures of Livingston in the old days. It is really interesting. Hopefully I can show it to you someday. -
Robbie Serpico Hard working is right. I keep looking for a picture of a great uncle that worked in West Texas. Josie Cotton. -
Jean Fanning These guys worked hard and played hard! Love ’em all! -
Roblyn McCarley Brown Me too, Robert Cawley -
Wayne Nash Is that a 60B National? -
Desiree Suggs It is still a hard, dangerous job today, even with all the technology. -
Joan Jelinek Think I still have my dad’s hard hat. He was a wielder. -
Joe Glenn Kirk Great photo of hard working guys -
Margie Holley love this -
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John McCrary Real red necks! -
Sissy Williams Hard, dirty and very dangerous job. But there’s nothing else like it on Earth! And I wouldn’t trade ANYTHING for my time working in the oil patch.
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Sunny Roberts This is a great picture. Thanks
For sharing. -
Jacob Loftin Rip -
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Hannah Elise McClanahan Thor Olson this is the page I was telling you about. -
Jeannie Murrow Williford Janice Jordan this looks like one of your photos -
Chandler Hartgraves Tony N Cassy Webb cool picture of an old kelly rig. -
Karla Stofel Strickland Great picture, I am proud of my west Texas oilfield roots. My papa was a tool pusher some 40 years from the late 1940’s. Started out working for All Incorporated. He loved to tell me about having to rush into Andrews from Midland Farms in a snow stormback in 1958 the day my mama was born. He also loved to tell me about the “old iron assess” or “oilfield trash” which was a proud way to address the roughnecks of way back when, always telling how he could work circles around the roughneck crews of today then he would smile the smile of a Cheshire cat. I am proud to still be able to call Andrews my home.
Arlington TX Barnett Shale Blogger 
I am of the Permian High School class of 61. In the summer of ’61 my brother and I got jobs with our uncle drilling outside George West, Texas. I was the green horn on the floor working tongs when the driller started coming out of the hole. Instead of releasing the tongs from the pipe and waiting for the next joint, my uncle suggested we just keep the tongs loosely on the o-coming pipe and barely open. It worked for a while until I shifted my weight. The tongs caught the pipe going upwards and yanked it out of my hands and then the tongs cable broke with the tongs falling. The handle caught me on the head and turned out my lights for a few moments. I had to pay for my stitches and Doctors bill. Years later my uncle blamed me and called me a boll wevil. I never spoke to him again. Still have that scar on the top of my head. I just as easily could have died. Ol’ uncle knew that, so he blamed me. Michael Lewis Moore