Big Rich

RUNNING HEAD: The Big Rich

The Rise and Fall of the Greatest Texas Oil Fortunes The Big Rich

Lisa Nguyen

Northwood University

Starting with Spindletop, the first major oil well found in Texas in 1901, we read about fortunes lost, regained, lost again, families broken, love scandals, murder, double lives, cheating, and stealing. Bryan Burrough narrates the rise and fall of one of the great economic and political powerhouses of the twentieth century, Texas oil. By intertwining together the epic histories of the industry’s four greatest fortunes, Burrough produced a fascinating tale of money, family, and power in the American century. Known as the Big Four, Roy Cullen, H. L. Hunt, Clint Murchison, and Sid Richardson were all from modest backgrounds, and all became leaders of the wealthiest oil families in Texas. Together they created a new legend in America, the boastful Texas oilman who owns private islands, ranches and even a football team or two, and associates with presidents and Hollywood stars. H. L. Hunt became America’s richest man by grabbing Texas’s largest oilfield out from under the nose of the man who found it. Clint Murchison entertained British royalty on his estate and bet on racehorses. Roy Cullen, an elementary school dropout, used his millions to revive the hapless Texas GOP. And Sid Richardson, the Big Four’s fun-loving bachelor, was a friend of several presidents. The Big Rich reveals in this hugely entertaining story, the profound economic, political, and cultural influence of Texas oil is still keenly felt today. Other highlights worth mentioning within this book will be discussed in the following essay.

H.L. Hunt

Of these four, perhaps the most interesting to me was the Hunts. H.L. Hunt in particular, the family patriarch was the real crook of the bunch. H.L. Hunt was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth. To the contrary, H.L. left home at sixteen and worked as a dishwasher, a mule-team driver, a logger, a farmhand, and a...