Oil was first found near Burkburnett in 1912; a 1918 strike on the S.L. Fowler farm set off the boom that drew some 20,000 people to the oilfield region — and seeded the mineral interests that still produce royalty income across Wichita County, Texas today.
Quick answer
Oil was first discovered west of Burkburnett in 1912, but the boom came in 1918. That summer S.L. Fowler, who owned a farm near town, persuaded friends, neighbors, and local businesses to finance a well at the north edge of the Burkburnett townsite. Its success set off a town-lot leasing and drilling boom.
Within weeks, dozens of rigs were drilling inside the town, and a single town-lot lease could fetch as much as $1,000. Burkburnett — a town of about 1,000 people when it incorporated in 1913 — was overrun: by late 1918 some 20,000 people had poured into the oilfield region, and twenty trains a day ran between Burkburnett and Wichita Falls (Texas State Historical Association). Tent cities, gambling halls, makeshift saloons, and pop-up oil-equipment yards covered the prairie.
The boom drew wildcatters, lease hounds, drillers, equipment vendors, and grifters from across the country. Fortunes were made and lost quickly.
The Burkburnett boom didn’t stop at one discovery. It expanded west toward Electra, where a 1911 discovery had already begun the Electra field, and across the southern part of the county under what became Iowa Park. By 1918, the combined Electra-Burkburnett trend was producing tens of thousands of barrels per day from the Gunsight sand and shallower zones.
Original 1912-1920 lease bonuses created a dense layer of mineral interests that have been passed down through the generations ever since. Family-name leases like Bywaters, Stringer, Honaker, Reilly, Allen, Sauder, Waggoner — named after the original landowners — still appear today on TX RRC production filings, more than 100 years later.
The 1940 MGM film Boom Town with Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy was loosely inspired by the Burkburnett rush, anchoring the town’s place in oil-history pop culture for decades after.
By the mid-1920s, 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 per well. The boom had died out by the late 1920s: Burkburnett’s population, about 5,300 in the mid-1920s, fell to roughly 3,300 in the 1930s (Texas State Historical Association).
But the wells stayed productive. Across the following century, mid-century operators consolidated leases into named units, installed waterflood programs, and kept the original 1912-1920 family-name leases on production. Many of those family-name leases are still operated today, largely by DARA Operating Company; see the Wichita County activity profile for county-level aggregates.
For mineral owners, this means: a lease bonus paid to a Wichita County farmer during the 1912-1920 boom years — passed through wills, probate, family trusts, and out-of-state migration over five generations — can still produce royalty income today, more than a century later.
Three practical implications for current Wichita County mineral owners:
Long ownership chains. Most Wichita County mineral interests trace their lease bonus to 1912-1920. Current owners are typically 4-6 generations removed from the original signer. Probate, divorce, remarriage, and out-of-state migration over a century of transitions can leave fractional ownership scattered across dozens of heirs.
NPRI and ORRI structures are common. Boom-era deeds frequently carved out non-participating royalty interests and overriding royalty interests — structures that survive every subsequent conveyance and complicate title work.
Suspense funds are common. When operators can’t locate current owners, royalty payments accrue in suspense accounts. DARA, R2Q, and other Wichita County operators carry suspense balances on legacy boom-era leases routinely.
Reserve life is unusually long. If a lease has produced continuously for 113+ years (Second Bywaters), the actuarial expectation is that it will continue producing for many more years.
If you’ve inherited a mineral interest tracing back to the 1912-1920 Electra-Burkburnett boom, Buckhead Energy can value the future cash flow stream and provide a free written offer with no obligation. Out-of-state owners are common; we handle the entire process remotely.
Buckhead provides a free written offer. Our offer comes at no cost and no obligation.
Start Your Free Written OfferGet a written offer from a direct buyer with 20 years in business.
Sell My Mineral RightsBuckhead Energy buys mineral and royalty interests across all 50 states and has completed acquisitions in 33 states. Buckhead Energy is a direct buyer, not a broker — we purchase mineral and royalty interests with our own capital. Buckhead Energy has been buying mineral and royalty interests since 2006. Buckhead Energy holds an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.
Get My Offer Now