on the Coastal Plain." In 1898, Lucas mined salt on Grand Côte, Weeks Island, and Anse la Butte, having by then become an expert on salt domes. Lucas Gusher In 1899, Lucas visited the Sour Spring Mound south of Beaumont, Texas, with Pattillo Higgins. This was the future site of Spindletop. Lucas noted, "This mound attracted my attention on account of the contour, which indicated possibilities for an incipient dome below, and because at the apex of it there were exudations of sulphuretted hydrogen gas. This has suggested to me, in the light of my experience at Belle Isle, that it might prove a source of either sulphur or oil, or both." Lucas then signed a lease agreement with the Gladys City Oil, Gas, and Manufacturing Company, and a separate agreement with Higgins. Using a rotary drilling rig from Louisiana, Lucas began his well in August or September 1899, reaching a depth of in Dec. At a depth of , the casing collapsed, but only after a layer of oil sand was found. Short on money, Lucas sought funding from any source, including Henry Folger of Standard Oil, but to no avail. Lucas received an opportunity when Dr. William Battle Phillips, geologist for the University of Texas and the Texas State Mineral Survey, endorsed Lucas' dome theory, and wrote a letter of introduction to John H. Galey. Galey, with his partner James M. Guffey, put together financing with Andrew Mellon, allowing Lucas to drill three wells deep. Lucas also retained 12.5 percent of the deal. Galey further recommended that the Hamill brothers, Al, Curt, and Jim, drill the well. After reaching the depth of , on 10 January 1901, mud and water erupted followed by a stream of crude oil reaching . The eruption lasted nine days, flowing between 70,000 and 100,000 barrels per day, before the Lucas Gusher was finally brought under control. Beaumont became a boomtown. Yet, tiring of his loss of privacy, in May 1901, Lucas sold his stock in the Guffey Petroleum Company, and continued his scientific search for oil in the United States and Mexico. Legacy The Lucas Gusher helped revolutionize world fuel use and transformed the economy of southeast Texas. It helped further the development of the combustion engine automobile since significant amounts of energy were needed for fuel. The city of Houston become the national center of the oil industry, with the United