Other oil developments in West Texas in the first quarter of the Twentieth Century came at Blue Ridge field in Fort Bend County in 1919, in Potter County near Amarillo in 1919, and in Wilbarger County in 1920. Near the coast in 1919, the West Columbia field in Brazoria County came in. Reports say that a 29,600-barrel well was drilled in July, 1920. Though small, the field was quite productive. The Mexia field was discovered in 1920, and the Powell field near Corsicana was reopened in 1924. As a result, Texas oil production shot above 200,000,000 barrels in 1927. Early in the 1920’s, oil was discovered in the Texas Panhandle. In 1925, Spindletop field near Beaumont was redeveloped, and proved more productive than when first discovered. In the last half of the 1920’s, oil was discovered in Howard and Winkler Counties in West Texas. Other discoveries included Raccoon Bend on the coast, Van Zandt County in East Texas, and Bee County in 1929. But the most prolific field of all was the East Texas field, which C. M. (Dad) Joiner brought in in October, 1930. Haunted by two failures, Joiner drilled a well in Rusk County where geologists said no oil existed. The overwhelming success of the well resulted in the wildest battle for leases in the history of the petroleum industry. The discovery of the East Texas field, which soon covered a large area, led to a decline in the price of oil. After much struggle—some verbal and other physical—the field was put under martial law by Governor Ross Sterling in August, 1931. The reason for the struggle—the desire of some to reduce the amount of production and divide it among the producers—was solved as the Texas Legislature gave the Railroad Commission authority to ration production. A number of major fields were discovered in the 1930’s, mostly in West Texas and along the Gulf Coast. The next sensational discovery, however, came in 1948 in Scurry and adjoining counties. The discovery well in this field was brought in on November 21, 1948. This led to further exploration and further discoveries of oil in West Texas. In 1953, the Neches Field in Anderson and Cherokee Counties was discovered. It has been labeled a major field. Another area of oil development in Texas has been the so-called “tidelands”, the submerged lands under the Gulf of Mexico to the three-league limit. Production in the tidelands began as early as 1940 but drilling exploration has never developed to the desired extent. One reason has been the controversy between the United States and Texas over the ownership of the tidelands. After some litigation, Congress passed a law in 1953 placing ownership of the “tidelands” in the hands of Texas. Until then, Texas had claimed land out to the outer edge of the continental shelf, an average of about 85 miles. In another area of petroleum development, the first oil discovery on University of Texas land makes an interesting story. A stubborn professor and a broken-down wagon played key roles.