Ranger Oil Boom

The Ranger Oil Boom started on October 17, 1917, after oil was discovered 3342 ft below ground at the J.H. McCleskey No. 1 drill well in Ranger, Texas. The strike was notable because Soviet Russia's threatened exit from World War I meant its oil output was lost to the Allies. Before WWI Russia accounted for 30% of the world's oil production, more than any other country. On December 15, 1917, an armistice between Soviet Russia and the Central Powers was concluded. According to a story from USA Today, the oil from the Ranger Oil Strike helped win World War I.

Discovery
William Knox Gordon made his fortune with the Texas and Pacific Coal Company in Thurber, Texas. It drilled a gas well north of Ranger in August 1917, after town civic leaders offered acreage in return for four test wells. On October 17, 1917 the J.H. McCleskey No. 1 oil well a mile southwest of Ranger produced oil at 1200 barrels per day from the Strawn Formation sandstones at 1300 to 2000 ft, the Smithwick Shale, and the Marble Falls Formation limestone at 3200 to 3400 ft feet. The Ranger Oil Field production peaked in July 1919 at 80,000 barrels per day. The oil boom brought many seeking jobs, including farm boys and demobilized veterans.

Aftermath
The oil from the reservoir was soon drained and the region's oil boom ended. The J.H. McCleskey No. 1 was abandoned on May 30, 1930.