Historic Midland

data the large companies gathered while drilling
wells were indispensable in enhancing production
after oil was found, and the larger firms had
the scientific staffs ready to put those data to use.
During the 1970s and 1980s, larger independent
producers acquired many of these properties
from major oil companies, and operators
including John Cox, of Midland and Parker &
Parsley, also of Midland, produced increasingly
large proportions of the field’s oil and extended
its production. During its history, the Spraberry
Trend has been the leading field in Midland
County, yielding nearly 400 million barrels of
oil through 1994.
Insignificant Weed Bill
Brought a U.S. District Court
By Hank Avery
Gus Mutscher, a Texas State Legislator and
later Speaker of the House, introduced a bill to
require property owners in Texas cities to cut
the weeds on their vacant private property. If
they failed to do so, the city could cut the weeds
and put a lien on the property for the cost.
I was president of the Texas Municipal
League when Rep. Mutscher asked me to testify
before a House Committee in favor of the bill.
Later the bill was passed.
Later Mutscher was chairman of a House
Committee to redistrict Texas’ U.S.
Congressional Districts. I wanted Midland to
have George Mahon, who served 42 years in the
U.S. Congress, as its congressman and Odessa to
have O.C. Fisher as its congressman. I had been
a friend of Representative Mahon for several
years and he had approved my plan. While the
Chambers of Commerce of both Midland and
Odessa were voicing their proposal that each
city should have the same congressman, I was
opposed to the idea and went to Austin to talk
with Representative Mutscher.
Representative Mutscher suggested that a
group of Midland citizens host a dinner for the
Redistricting Committee. Besides the committee
members, Lieutenant Governor Preston Smith,
House Speaker Ben Barnes, and Governor John
Connally came to the dinner. Some 10 men from
Midland attended the dinner. First National
Bank President C.J. Kelly funded the expenses.
Speaker Barnes reminded me that I was asking
Democrats in Austin for help for Midland
when our state representative, Republican Frank
Cahoon, was in Dallas calling all Democrats in
Austin crooks. Our state representative at the
time was the only Republican in the Texas
Legislature. Midland has had very little influence
in politics in Austin for the last 45 years.
This is one of the reasons that Odessa was able
to doublecross Midland and obtain the
University of Texas of the Permian Basin in
Odessa.
Soon after congressional redistricting, I asked
Representative Mahon to introduce a bill creating
a U.S. District Court in Midland, which he did. It
was one of a few bills that he ever introduced in
the U.S. House and it was passed and signed into
law in December of 1967 by President Lyndon
Johnson. A group of nine Midlanders went to
Washington in December of 1967 to witness
President Johnson signing the statute.
From a little weed bill in the Texas Legislature
in Austin, Midland has a U.S. Federal District
Court. The Federal Building and Post Office in
Midland is named after George Mahon.
I served as councilman of Midland for one
year in 1961 and as mayor from 1962 to 1968.
As an architect, I remodeled the old Midland
City Hall three times before we built the present
Midland City Hall during the time I was mayor.
The old hall was built in 1929 as a one-story
building, housing the city staff and its volunteer
Midland Fire Department.
In 1962 when I became mayor, Midland had
30 years of water reserves, mainly from the Paul
Davis Water Field, north of Midland. Midland
had depleted four water fields. In 1966,
Midland purchased the 20,000-acre T Bar
Ranch in Winkler County for $750,000. The
water reserves under this ranch offer 750,000
acre-feet of good quality water—enough to provide
Midland for 50 years.
Then, in May of 1966, Midland signed a water
contract for water from Spence Lake with the
Colorado River Municipal Water District
(CRMWD) for about 75 percent of its annual water
needs. Now Midland is receiving 15,000 acre-feet
per year from the CRMWD’s O.H. Ivey Reservoir,
located about 166 miles southeast of Midland.
58 ✦ HISTORIC MIDLAND