Reuben Carlton "Carl" Baker, Sr. (July 18, 1872 – September 29, 1957) was an American oil industry drilling pioneer. He established Baker Oil Tools in 1907 after developing a casing shoe that revolutionized cable tool drilling. In 1903, he introduced the offset bit for cable tool drilling to enable casing wells in hard rock and in 1912 the cement retainer that allowed casing to be cemented in the wells. Baker further improved the process with the float shoe in 1923. Having only a third grade education, he obtained more than 150 patents on oil drilling tools. Baker Oil Tools merged with Hughes Tool Company in 1987 to form Baker Hughes Incorporated. Personal life On December 12, 1897, he married his childhood sweetheart Minnie Myrtle Zumwalt (October 24, 1870 – April 20, 1947). They moved to Coalinga from Los Angeles in 1899. They had two children, Thelma Ellen Baker (January 9, 1901 – April 13, 1986; later Anderson) and Reuben Carlton Baker, Jr. (October 18, 1902 – October 1, 1965). Early life Baker was born to Mary Elizabeth (née Stroud) and Reuben Baker in Purcellville, Virginia, and grew up in Shasta County, California. His father, a Civil War veteran from Chester County, Pennsylvania, had a farm that was not very productive. Baker never advanced beyond the third grade. In 1895, at age 23, he decided to go to Alaska to prospect for gold. He got as far as Redding, California, when he ran out of money. He worked in a stone quarry and slept in a barn for two weeks, earning $24, but his clothes were stolen from the barn one day while he worked. An acquaintance suggested he head south instead, where oil had been discovered in Southern California. Career Baker's older brother, Aaron Alphonso Baker, Sr. (December 10, 1867 – September 15, 1942) had been a dry goods merchant in Fall River Township, Shasta County before he went into the oil business. Baker's followed his brother Aaron into the oil business. He arrived in Los Angeles on April 4, 1895 with a new suit and 95 cents in his pocket. His first job was driving a horse team hauling oil in the Los Angeles City Oil Field for USD$2.00 for a 12-hour day. He soon got a job as an oilwell pumper, and then as a tool dresser for Irving Carl, a contract driller. When Carl couldn’t pay Baker’s