The McCleskey No. 1 Discovery (October 1917)

Eastland County’s oil history begins with the McCleskey No. 1 well in October 1917. Drilled near Ranger, TX, the well came in as a flowing well at over 1,700 BOPD — one of the largest discoveries of the era. The discovery confirmed the Ranger Field, a Pennsylvanian-age reservoir at depths of approximately 3,200-3,600 ft TVD.

Word of the discovery spread fast. Within months, Ranger’s population had exploded from approximately 1,000 in 1916 to estimates ranging from 16,000 to 30,000 at the boom’s peak. Drilling rigs covered the landscape; tent cities sprang up overnight; lease bonuses paid by major oil companies created overnight millionaires of farmers and ranchers across Eastland County.

Ranger as the "Wonder Town of Texas" (1918-1920)

For 18-24 months, Ranger was as busy as any oil town in the world. Newspapers across the United States carried stories of the boom. Wagonloads of crude moved daily through the Texas & Pacific Railway depot in Ranger to refineries across north Texas.

The boom drew a remarkable cast of characters: wildcatters from Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, and the Texas Gulf Coast; lease agents working the surrounding ranching country; suppliers of drilling pipe, mud, and rigging; saloons, dance halls, and boarding houses serving the swelling population. Lease bonuses of $50/acre or more were not uncommon — enormous money for the era when farmland was selling for $5-10/acre.

Critically for modern mineral owners: the 1917-1925 lease era set the foundation for current mineral ownership in Eastland County. Most Eastland mineral interests today trace their original lease back to a 1917-1925 bonus payment. Many of those leases — or modern modifications of them — remain active over 100 years later.

Bust and Long-Tail Production (1922-1950s)

By 1922-1923, the easy primary production had peaked. Reservoir pressure declined; wells that had flowed naturally needed pumping units; production rates fell from hundreds of BOPD to tens of BOPD. Ranger’s population fell back to about 6,000 by 1930, then to ~3,000 by mid-century.

But the wells stayed productive. Throughout the 1930s-1950s, secondary recovery operations — gas reinjection, then waterflood — extended field life by decades. By the 1960s, much of Eastland County’s production was consolidated into named units (East Ranger Unit, North Pioneer Unit, various Marble Falls and Strawn waterfloods) under modern unit-operating agreements.

Modern Era (1980s-Present)

Through the 1980s-2000s, Eastland County operations consolidated under a handful of small private operators — BRAKA Operating, Ronning Gas & Oil, Pardue Oil, Lowrance, Ames Oil, and others. Unlike neighboring Stephens County (where BASA Resources emerged as the dominant single operator), Eastland County’s operating landscape stayed fragmented.

Today’s Eastland County production is the long-tail descendant of the 1917-1918 Ranger boom: thousands of wells producing 0.1-2 BOPD each, organized into small named units. Per-well rates average about 6 barrels per month — true ultra-stripper economics. The wells continue to send small but consistent monthly royalty checks to mineral owners on record.

See the top 25 Eastland producing units and top 20 individual wells by Feb 2026 production.

What This History Means for Modern Mineral Owners

If you’ve inherited an Eastland County mineral interest, the original lease was likely paid in the 1917-1925 boom era. Your interest has probably passed through 3-5 generations of heirs, may be held in a family trust, and may currently be in suspense if the operator can’t locate all heirs.

Buckhead Energy regularly clears chain-of-title issues for inherited Eastland County mineral interests. We work with the operator’s land department to verify your decimal interest, value the future cash flow stream, and provide a free written offer within 48 hours. Out-of-state owners are common — California, Florida, Arizona, and Colorado heirs especially.

Eastland County Mineral Rights Hub