Tradition says that one John A. Veatch arrived in what is now East Texas but which was then a province of Mexico. After meeting certain requirements, he was authorized as an immigrant to select a league of land. Veatch chose his property in two parts: one three miles south of the present city of Beaumont and the other near Sour Lake in present Hardin County. Seventy-five years later, two of Texas’ greatest oil discoveries were made almost on top of his two tracts of land. Ironically enough, Veatch is reported to have believed that oil existed in those localities and, for that reason, consistently declined to sell. The first oil well in Texas was probably drilled near Saratoga in Hardin County in the early 1860’s, but the first oil discovered in commercially-suitable quantities was produced in Nacogdoches County 20 years later. The first commercial use of oil appears to have been as a tick remover. First important oil production in Texas occurred in the Corsicana area in 1895. The Corsicana field was of such importance that it attracted numerous geologists and operators to Texas. Before the Corsicana field came in, however, efforts had been made to develop the Beaumont location as an oil-producing area. Nearly ten years passed before the famous Lucas gusher came in producing a spectacular 4,000 barrels a day. Other wells were drilled in the same area, and the Texas coast suddenly became a paradise for oil developers. The next major development in Texas oil history came in that same coastal region. At Sour Lake in Hardin County, a gusher came in in 1902, and it is reported that some wells have produced 10,000 barrels a day in this field. Drilling in this field had been going on since 1893. When the 1902 gusher was drilled, the supply of oil suddenly exceeded the demand, and oil was being sold for 15 cents a barrel. An average 1957 price was about $2.85 per barrel. In 1903, the Batson field in Hardin County was discovered. The Permanent School Fund experienced its first sensation from this field. A surveyor discovered a scrap of unsurveyed school land near the oil field and filed to purchase it at $10.00 per acre, thinking the General Land Office unaware of its true value. To the contrary, the chief clerk of the Land Office held out for $1,500.00 per acre. He received what he asked for, and the School Fund profited by $23,025.00 from the sale. One of the most productive oil fields in Texas was developed at Humble in January, 1905. The well that brought in the field began producing at 8,500 barrels per day. Matagorda County caused some excitement in 1908. Its best producer yielded 7,200 barrels per day, but the field soon declined.