My source confirmed that Murchison was the more conservative of the two; Richardson was mainly pragmatic and any of his dealings were on a quid pro quo basis.
-- Jim Cullen
> Dear Jim,
>Thanks for the background on Richardson and Murchison. They were partners
>in the oil business, were they not?
>Joe Trees, Benedum's partner, had no politics that I know of. Trees was
>an engineer and easily embarrassed. He met Benedum at a small hotel still
>in existance in of all places Wellsville, West Virginia. It may have been
>a chance encounter in a very small hotel lobby; Trees was broke and needed
>a couple of thousand dollars to continue drilling in that area. Benedum
>became Trees partner.
>By todays standards Benedums methods were not very scientific. For
>example, a blind man once told him that he saw oil gushing over a fruit
>tree on his property. Benedum drilled on that spot and found a large
>quanity of oil. Another time Benedum followed the direction of an arrow
>that had been carved by American Indians on a rock . Another big discovery
>of oil. It only gets better...
>Another classic story about Benedum concerns an attempted robbery. A
>robber with a gun held up Benedum, and, Mike asked the guy why are you
>robbing. The robber told Benedum his story and Benedum listened. He then
>told the guy come a long with me and I'll lend you some money and get you
>a job.
>Sincerely, Tom Lehman
---------------------------------------- THE PROGRESSIVE POPULIST James M. Cullen, Editor P.O. Box 150517, Austin, Texas 78715-0517 Phone: 512-447-0455 Internet: populist at usa.net Home page: http://www.eden.com/~reporter ----------------------------------------