Payday: The Dan Hughes Story

Dan Hughes biography-chapter 12a_Layout 1 2/16/2016 11:15 AM Page 108
Program for World War II and Korean Veterans. In 1970, after the
successful oil activity that he had in Canada, South Texas and
Mississippi, he decided to purchase additional land. The first
purchase that he made was from Dan Fox in Bee County being 200
acres out of Fox’s ranch bordering the Medio Creek. It was a good
hunting area located about three miles off the main highway. He
fenced the land, built a campsite where he and his family spent time
hunting and enjoying the outdoors.
As the company began to expand, Dan decided that he needed
an office designed to his specific type of operation. He purchased a
corner lot on East Houston Street, and with the aid of a local
architect, built a small square office building. It was large enough
to house his operations, and he was able to lease half of it to another
local oil company. It was a convenient building and the company
has occupied it since, making additions over the years to keep pace
with the growing business. It is now 33,000 square feet.
The development in Canada was going well at the time, and Dan
decided to give Bob Gowdy a present for getting him into such
lucrative deals. He and his wife, Jody, invited Bob and his wife to go
with them on a three-week vacation and tour in Europe. It was a
well-organized trip with the tour through some of the same areas
that he and Jody had visited three years earlier. There were about
15 members in the group and they quickly became good friends.
Several future tours were taken with the Gowdys in Europe, Asia,
and the South Seas. This exposure to foreign countries gave Dan
the desire to explore for oil outside of the U.S.
Back home in Beeville, operations grew and he realized that in
order to cover the large area, it would be advantageous to have an
airplane. In 1971 Dan purchased the first airplane for Beeville which
was a new Cessna 210. A young navy pilot by the name of Barry
O’Neil, from Chase Field Naval Base, had just gotten out of the
military and approached him for a job flying the plane. He was
hired, and they began flying throughout South and West Texas
scouting out oil prospects. The pilot was a little on the wild side and
this led to some interesting adventures. About a year later, John
Beasley, his lawyer friend, informed him that a mutual friend, Dan
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