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Dear Jim,
<P>Back in the mid 80's someone wrote a two part story for the <B>Nation</B>
entitled <B>How the Democrats Lost Big Oil</B>. No one at the <B>Nation</B>
remembers the story, which I thought was quite good. It really explained
why Texas has become so southern rather than western. I really miss
thinking of Texas as a western state. I really like Joe Bob Briggs and
the Sons of the Pioneers are my all time favorite c&w group---I like
classical music.
<P>As far as this religious business goes...most of these "pastors" never
got to the back of the book. They know a lot about smitin' and smootin',
but, no much about anything else. Although I do think that the execution
of that crazy woman in Texas not to long ago may have registered a little
with Falwell, Robertson & Co.
<P>Sincerely,
<BR>Tom
<P>J Cullen wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE>According to one longtime Texas political observer
I checked with,
<BR>Richardson and Murchison were only partners in one deal, to buy the
<BR>Pennsylvania Railroad. I don't know what happened to that. As far as
the
<BR>oil bidness, they may have had some business dealings but in the main
they
<BR>operated independently.
<P>My source confirmed that Murchison was the more conservative of the
two;
<BR>Richardson was mainly pragmatic and any of his dealings were on a quid
pro
<BR>quo basis.
<P>-- Jim Cullen
<P>> Dear Jim,
<BR>>Thanks for the background on Richardson and Murchison. They
were partners
<BR>>in the oil business, were they not?
<BR>>Joe Trees, Benedum's partner, had no politics that I know of.
Trees was
<BR>>an engineer and easily embarrassed. He met Benedum at a small
hotel still
<BR>>in existance in of all places Wellsville, West Virginia. It
may have been
<BR>>a chance encounter in a very small hotel lobby; Trees was broke and
needed
<BR>>a couple of thousand dollars to continue drilling in that area.
Benedum
<BR>>became Trees partner.
<BR>>By todays standards Benedums methods were not very scientific.
For
<BR>>example, a blind man once told him that he saw oil gushing over a
fruit
<BR>>tree on his property. Benedum drilled on that spot and found
a large
<BR>>quanity of oil. Another time Benedum followed the direction of an
arrow
<BR>>that had been carved by American Indians on a rock . Another big discovery
<BR>>of oil. It only gets better...
<BR>>Another classic story about Benedum concerns an attempted robbery.
A
<BR>>robber with a gun held up Benedum, and, Mike asked the guy why are
you
<BR>>robbing. The robber told Benedum his story and Benedum listened.
He then
<BR>>told the guy come a long with me and I'll lend you some money and
get you
<BR>>a job.
<BR>>Sincerely, Tom Lehman
<P>----------------------------------------
<BR>THE PROGRESSIVE POPULIST
<BR>James M. Cullen, Editor
<BR>P.O. Box 150517, Austin, Texas 78715-0517
<BR>Phone: 512-447-0455
<BR>Internet: populist@usa.net
<BR>Home page: <A HREF="http://www.eden.com/~reporter">http://www.eden.com/~reporter</A>
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