Oil and the Federal Presence in NM: Introduction Print Share
(This article is excerpted from the original. The opinions expressed are those of the author and not of my office.)
Oil wells drilled in western Pennsylvania in 1859 forever changed America. Immediately oil products served as lubricants, and soon kerosene for lamps and heating transformed home life in America. By the early twentieth century, diesel-powered locomotives began to erode the exclusive use of coal to run trains.
Oil wells drilled in western Pennsylvania in 1859 forever changed America. Immediately oil products served as lubricants, and soon kerosene for lamps and heating transformed home life in America. By the early twentieth century, diesel-powered locomotives began to erode the exclusive use of coal to run trains.
But nothing changed life more than the automobile. Beginning with the sale of the first American gasoline car in February 1896, the rapid expansion in automobile ownership pushed demand for petroleum from tens of thousands to millions of barrels in a few years.
Oil companies and independent drillers ("wildcatters") feverishly pushed to find more oil in west Texas, Oklahoma, southern California—and in New Mexico in the 1920s. But this push for more drilling collided with the emerging conservation movement of the Progressive reformers. Advocates for each side fiercely debated their positions in Congress and public forums for over a decade until passage of the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920.
Oil emerged as essential in modern warfare as well as vital to the nation's economy in the early twentieth century. In these decades the federal government and the petroleum industry grappled to define their respective roles and obligations. The stakes were high: ensure oil's prominent place in the nation's defense and economic progress.
The story linking oil, New Mexico, and the federal government has many parts. The first heyday for oil in New Mexico occurred during the 1920s. But it took more than oil rigs to kick off the boom. It required a change in national policy to initiate drilling.
© 2007 by David V. Holtby. Used with permission.
