In the early 1920’s, the governing body of The University of Texas decided to sell the University’s vast land endowment in West Texas. The late Dr. J. A. Udden, then director of the Bureau of Economic Geology and a renowned scholar, protested the sale and insisted that the land had possibilities for mineral development. To prove his point, he located a site to drill an oil well and made arrangements for the drilling. When the drilling rig was being transported to the location, the wagon on which it was carried broke down and was extensively damaged. It was decided to drill at the site of the breakdown. On May 28, 1923, oil was discovered there. The well was named Santa Rita and was the discovery well for the Big Lake field in Reagan County. Ironically enough, a well was drilled later at Dr. Udden’s original location. It was a dry hole. Santa Rita, though shallow, is still producing. Since its discovery, wells have been drilled nearby at seven levels, and the Big Lake field has yielded a total of 113,878,857 barrels to September, 1956. In terms of dollars and cents, this amounts to $18,874,527.09. From the meager beginning provided by the Santa Rita well, the Permanent University Fund has grown today to more than 280 million dollars. As a direct result of oil exploration and development in Texas, the Permanent School Fund and Permanent University Fund have mushroomed. Much oil exploration and development have been done on State-owned lands. This has been the major source of income for these funds, which now total more than 625 million dollars. Even today these permanent funds are growing as a result of oil and other mineral development on State-owned lands. As a result, the public school systems and higher education in Texas will continue developing in a manner befitting the Lone Star State. Thus, the history of Texas land is still being written. II. DISPOSITION OF TEXAS LAND The disposal of land within the present boundaries of Texas constitutes an interesting segment of the State’s history. The disposition of these lands actually began while they were still part of Spain’s colonial empire. In the areas around Nacogdoches, San Antonio, and the Rio Grande Valley, Spain gave away a few very large tracts of land. When Mexico obtained her independence, she granted title to other large areas in Texas. The means by which Mexico disposed of these lands were three: sale, special grants, and empresario contracts. The most famous of the last of these was the contract with Moses and Stephen F. Austin. The total number of acres granted by Spain and Mexico approximated 26,250,000. When Texas earned her independence, she recognized the legitimacy of titles to land granted by Spain and Mexico. In addition, Texas set about disposing of more land. In general, Texas parted with land in three ways. She gave some away, traded other for services, and sold some.