Permian Basin Landman & WIldcatter, 1924-1960, Signed

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AUTHOR: Clarence C. Pope.

TITLE: An Oil Scout in the Permian Basin

PUBLICATION DATA: 1972. Permian Press. First Edition. Signed by Pope on front endpaper.

The author, an oil scout for Sun Oil, was there in the Permian Basin as one big well after another came in, and tells us about it in these pages. He was one of three organizers of the West Texas Oil Scouts association. Clarence later became a landman for Sun and handled much of Sun's business in West Texas. (He explains the functions of the landman and the oil scout for those of us who didn't know the difference.) Pope was also associated with well-known ranchers and landowners like J.M. Shannon and Ira Yates, as well as operators like Fred Turner, Red Davidson, C.W. Brown, and George T. Abell, the latter of whom financed the publication of Pope's book.

Condition report:

Black cloth covers with gilt decoration and titles show little wear. Pictorial paper dust jacket shows some small edge chips and creases. 150 pages. Binding is sound.

Why It Matters:

Texas oil always makes for entertaining reading because the oil patch draws the larger-than-life characters out of the woodwork. Pope's book is an uncommon title because it was privately printed in small quantities.