David Harold "Dry Hole" Byrd (24 April 1900 – 14 September 1986) was a noted

Texan Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by bo ...

producer of

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

, and a co-founder of the Civil Air Patrol. Byrd's cousin, polar explorer

Richard E. Byrd Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (October 25, 1888 – March 11, 1957) was an American naval officer and explorer. He was a recipient of the Medal of Honor, the highest honor for valor given by the United States, and was a pioneering American aviator, p ...

, named Antarctica's Harold Byrd Mountains for him.

Personal background

Byrd was born in

Detroit, Texas Detroit (dɪˈtɹɔɪt) is a town in Red River County, Texas, United States. The population was 704 at the 2020 census. John Nance Garner, 32nd Vice President of the United States, was born outside of Detroit but lived most of his life in Uvalde ...

on April 24, 1900, the youngest of eight children of Mary Easley Byrd and Edward Byrd, and grew up in Texas and Oklahoma.Texas State Historical Association
BYRD, DAVID HAROLD
/ref> Byrd's cousin, polar explorer

, named Antarctica's Harold Byrd Mountains for him, after Byrd had contributed to the expedition that found them. Another cousin (Richard's brother) was

Harry F. Byrd Harry Flood Byrd Sr. (June 10, 1887 – October 20, 1966) was an American newspaper publisher, politician, and leader of the Democratic Party in Virginia for four decades as head of a political faction that became known as the Byrd Organization. ...

, who became a

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

Governor of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

and a leading conservative US Senator. Byrd worked in the

Burkburnett, Texas Burkburnett is a city in Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is part of the Wichita Falls, Texas metropolitan statistical area. Its population was 10,811 at the 2010 census. The community newspaper, the ''Burkburnett Informer/Star,'' is publ ...

oilfield before attending Trinity University in 1917 and studying

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ea ...

at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

in 1919–1921. During the summer vacations he worked at an oilfield in

Santa Anna, Texas Santa Anna is a town in Coleman County in Central Texas, United States. Its population was 1,099 at the 2010 census. Geography Santa Anna is located in eastern Coleman County at (31.740189, –99.325192). Three U.S. highways pass through the c ...

. Byrd married twice; on June 8, 1935, he married Mattie Caruth (March 7, 1908 to February 15, 1972) and again on February 14, 1974 - on her birthday - to the widow Mavis Barnett Heath (February 14, 1908 to April 9, 1998) following the death of his first wife in 1972. He had two sons from his first marriage. The two sons were David Harold Byrd Jr. and Caruth Clark Byrd. Mavis Barnett Heath was the widow of William Womack Heath (December 7, 1903 to June 22, 1971) and this couple were close friends to

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

and his wife,

Lady Bird Johnson Claudia Alta "Lady Bird" Johnson (''née'' Taylor; December 22, 1912 – July 11, 2007) was First Lady of the United States from 1963 to 1969 as the wife of President Lyndon B. Johnson. She previously served as Second Lady from 1961 to 1963 whe ...

. This Heath couple were instrumental in bringing the

LBJ Library The Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum, also known as the LBJ Presidential Library, is the presidential library and museum of Lyndon Baines Johnson, the 36th president of the United States (1963–1969). It is located on the grounds of t ...

to the

. On September 14, 1986, David Harold 'Dry Hole' Byrd died while living in the City of Dallas, County of Dallas, Texas, and was buried at the Sparkman Hillcrest Memorial Park in that community which was also the resting place of his 1st wife. (See: findagrave.com)

Oil business career

After graduation, Byrd worked for H.E. Humphreys, and as a geological oil scout for several oil companies including

Old Dominion Oil Company Old or OLD may refer to: Places * Old, Baranya, Hungary * Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, ...

of San Antonio before becoming, in 1925, an independent consultant and driller in

Brownwood, Texas Brownwood is a city in and the county seat of Brown County, Texas, United States. The population was 18,862 at th2020 census Brownwood is located in the Northern Texas Hill Country and is home to Howard Payne University that was founded in 1889. ...

. Here he acquired his "dry hole" nickname by drilling 56 wells that produced no oil until on 28 May 1928 he drilled two productive wells on the same day, one of them, the Byrd-Daniels Oil Field producing 1000 barrels a day at $3 a barrel. In 1931 Byrd founded Byrd-Frost Incorporated with Jack Frost, which operated 492 East Texas wells that produced an average of 4,000 barrels a day. In the 1930s he purchased the

Texas School Book Depository The Texas School Book Depository, now known as the Dallas County Administration Building, is a seven-floor building facing Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas. The building was Lee Harvey Oswald's vantage point during the assassination of United Sta ...

in Dallas, scene of the 1963 assassination of

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

Aviation business

During this period Byrd became very interested in aviation. In 1938 he was named to the

Texas Civil Aeronautics Commission Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

by Texas Governor

James V. Allred James Burr V AllredThe "V" was a name, not an initial. (March 29, 1899 – September 24, 1959) was the 33rd governor of Texas. He later served, twice, as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern Distri ...

, and was involved in founding the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) in September 1941. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Byrd commanded a CAP anti-submarine base at Beaumont, Texas. After the war Byrd helped incorporate CAP and have it designated as an Auxiliary of the Air Force, helped initiate the International Air Cadet Exchange, and established or supported cadet scholarships. For his work with the CAP Byrd was awarded the US Air Force's

Air Force Scroll of Appreciation Awards and decorations of the United States Department of the Air Force are military decorations which are issued by the Department of the Air Force to airmen of the United States Air Force and guardians of the United States Space Force and members ...

on 24 May 1963.Byrd (1978), ''I'm an Endangered Species'', pp. 101-02; Scroll of Appreciation notice cite
here
/ref>

LTV

In 1944 Byrd founded Byrd Oil Corporation, which was later sold to

Mobil Oil Mobil is a petroleum brand owned and operated by American oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil. The brand was formerly owned and operated by an oil and gas corporation of the same name, which itself merged with Exxon to form ExxonMobil in 1999. ...

. That year he also founded B.H. Drilling Corporation. Byrd's Three States Natural Gas Company was sold to Delhi-Taylor Oil Corporation in 1961. In 1952 Byrd established the Three States Natural Gas Company, which he later sold to Delhi-Taylor, using the money to invest in aircraft production, co-founding

Temco Aircraft The Texas Engineering & Manufacturing Company (TEMCO), also known as Temco Aircraft Corporation, was a U.S.-based manufacturing company located in Dallas, Texas, USA. It is best known for eventually forming part of the conglomerate Ling-Temco-V ...

, which in 1961 merged with friend

James Ling James Joseph "Jimmy" Ling (December 31, 1922 – December 17, 2004) was an American businessman and former head of Ling-Temco-Vought corporation. While at its helm, Ling used LTV funds to purchase a large number of corporations, and was one of ...

's electronics company and aircraft manufacturer Chance Vought Corporation to form

Ling-Temco-Vought Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV) was a large American conglomerate which existed from 1961 to 2000. At its peak, it was involved in aerospace, airlines, electronics, steel manufacturing, sporting goods, meat packing, car rentals, and pharmaceuticals, amo ...

(LTV).

Books

* ''I'm an Endangered Species: The Autobiography of a Free Enterpriser'', Pacesetter Press, 1978,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Byrd, David Harold American aerospace businesspeople American businesspeople in the oil industry American petroleum geologists 1900 births 1986 deaths University of Texas at Austin alumni 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American geologists