Texas Trivia (Austin, Spring, Del Rio: Valentine's day, camping, swimming pool)

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by CptnRn
Just FYI, its easy to use the Texas Trivia button at the top of the forum thread window to verify if a question has been asked. I do it often to make sure I'm not repeating myself.

Originally Posted by joqua

Thanks. I didn't find a "texas trivia button" but did learn something about searching the thread using the "thread tool." Heretofore I had used the "forum search" - but that returned tons of threads, many totally unrelated to the Texas forum.

I'm sorry, City-Data inserted the words "Texas Trivia" in my post when what I had typed was the link to the "Search this Thread" button, and I did not catch it.

[jtur88]

Originally Posted by Cathy4017

Not exactly a city, but Iraan comes to mind......named for Ira and Ann Yates.

I'll have to accept that, since it (nearly) qualifies. Apparently, it is locally pronounced "Ira-ann"?

The one I was thinking of is Floydada. Floyd and Ada were the parents of Mrs. Price, the wife of the first organizer of the town, and that etymology is disputed. But today it is pronounced "Floyd-Ada" with a long-A. People in Houston probably don't think Floydada is a "city", either.

Sorry to be getting back late, I didn't expect your answer within two minutes. Your turn.

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by jtur88

I'll have to accept that, since it (nearly) qualifies. Apparently, it is locally pronounced "Ira-ann"?

The one I was thinking of is Floydada. Floyd and Ada were the parents of Mrs. Price, the wife of the first organizer of the town, and that etymology is disputed. But today it is pronounced "Floyd-Ada" with a long-A. People in Houston probably don't think Floydada is a "city", either.

Sorry to be getting back late, I didn't expect your answer within two minutes. Your turn.

I didn't know that about Floydada, and didn't expect a different answer, LOL!! Since I grew up 50 miles from there, it popped into my head.

It is usually pronounced with the "long a" sound, but like everything else, is often butchered!

So......here's an easy one. For what major enterprise were the Yates responsible?

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by Cathy4017

So......here's an easy one. For what major enterprise were the Yates responsible?

Ira and Ann Yates were ranchers until oil was found on their land. This Yates Oilfield became one of the most productive oil fields in history.

Yates Oil Field - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The field has produced more than one billion barrels of oil, making it one of the largest in the United States, and in 2009 it remains productive, though at a diminished rate. Estimated recoverable reserves are still approximately one billion barrels, which represents approximately 50% of the original oil in place (OOIP).

Yates had recently purchased the ranch, and was having difficulty making sufficient profit to pay the mortgage and taxes; on a hunch, he invited Transcontinental Oil Company to explore his land for oil. In 1926, a partnership consisting of Mid Kansas Oil Company (part of The Ohio Oil Company, the ancestor of Marathon Oil) and Transcontinental Oil, drilled an exploratory well on the Yates ranch into the San Andres formation approximately 1,000 feet (300 m) below ground surface, and hit a rich productive zone, producing a "gusher" – an uncontrolled spew of crude oil, under intense pressure, into the air. Lacking any other means of containment, the crew dammed a nearby draw to build a holding pond for the oil. Other wells drilled nearby also hit substantial quantities of oil – it seemed to be everywhere. Both Yates and the oilmen immediately recognized the significance of their find.

[joqua]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

Ira and Ann Yates were ranchers until oil was found on their land. This Yates Oilfield became one of the most productive oil fields in history.

I worked in the refinery end of the business for 32 years and remember the El Paso refinery (belonged to Chevron at the time) piped crude from both the Snyder/Wink and Yates fields. Yates crude was extremely sour - meaning it had an unusually high sulfur content that caused serious corrosion of refinery processing equipment. By contrast, Snyder crude was sweet - low sulfur content.

Now where else could I have been able to mention that bit of trivia!

[Cathy4017]

Yep......the smartest move they ever made....!

[CptnRn]

OK, Next question, still speaking of Iraan, TX...

What famous comic book character got its start in Iraan and what was his girlfriends name?

Hint: Iraan named a city park after him.

[losttechnician]

Alley Oop

and methinks his GF was Foozy???

Cool park btw

[jtur88]

Originally Posted by losttechnician

Alley Oop

and methinks his GF was Foozy???

Cool park btw

Foozy was Oop's male friend. His GF was Oola.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by losttechnician
Alley Oop

and methinks his GF was Foozy???

Cool park btw

Originally Posted by jtur88

Foozy was Oop's male friend. His GF was Oola.

Alley Oop is correct.

Foozy is incorrect. Oola is almost correct, since it is spelled Ooola.

I don't recall losttechnician participating in Texas Trivia before so I'm giving this one to him.

Welcome to Texas Trivia losttechnician, its now your turn to ask the next question.

Alley Oop - A time-traveling caveman
Ooola - Oop's pretty girlfriend

Your Tube Video

Alley-Oop Park and Museum in Iraan, TX - YouTube

From Wikipedia: One of Iraan's most famous residents was V.T. Hamlin, the creator of the comic strip Alley Oop. Originally from Iowa, he worked in Iraan during the oil boom period of the late 1920s, and either got the idea for the strip or created its earliest drafts there; the strip was first published in 1932 in Des Moines. He moved back to Iowa in 1929, and later to Florida. A park in Iraan is named after the strip.

At its peak, Alley Oop was carried by 800 newspapers. Today, it appears in more than 600 newspapers.