Oklahoma Journeys
Week of March 22, 2008
Wild Mary Sudik Comes In – March 26, 1930
Wild Mary says hello this week on Oklahoma Journeys. Oklahoma’s connection to the oil and gas industry has resulted in more than a few oil patch stories that seem too crazy to be true. The story of the Wild Mary Sudik might seem like a typical tall tale from the oil field, but in this case it’s all true and the topic of this week’s Oklahoma Journeys from the Oklahoma Historical Society.
From the Oklahoma Historical Society, this is Oklahoma Journeys. I’m Michael Dean.
Oklahoma’s history of oil and natural gas production is known around the world; indeed, Tulsa for a number of decades proclaimed itself the “oil capital of the world.” So many great and grand stories of Oklahoma’s mineral wealth have emerged, both from fact and fiction that, at times, they all seem to blur together into one giant tale of boomtowns, busts, wells and wildcatters. One oil patch event, however, has its roots firmly attached in reality, and it’s one of the greatest stories of all. One of the last truly great oil field discoveries of the twentieth century was the Oklahoma City oil field.
In December 1928 the discovery well for the Oklahoma City field came in announcing the arrival of one of the largest oil boom periods. The big story of the Oklahoma City field, however, actually came into being two years later with drilling taking place on Vince and Mary Sudik’s farm at the southeast end of the field, near the present day intersection of I-240 and Bryant. It was on March 26, 1930, seventy-eight years ago this week, that in the pre-dawn chill news came that a well on the Sudik place had come in, and quickly it became evident that this was not just any ordinary well. When the drill bit struck gas and the oil reserve, so great was the released pressure that the valve was split in half, and the well ruptured with a plume of gas and oil that went almost a thousand feet in the air. With a strong wind blowing from the south to north, the airborne oil spread as far north as downtown Oklahoma City.
Newsreel photographers arrived by train to shoot pictures of the Wild Mary Sudik, those films would be shown around the world in newsreel theaters. NBC Radio sent news reporter Floyd Gibbons to Oklahoma City to report on national radio. The Wild Mary Sudik became the focus of the nation’s media. Meanwhile, the well continued to gush. Houses within a mile radius of the well were evacuated for fear that the well might catch fire. For eleven days crews worked at capping the well gone wild. And finally in the afternoon of April 6, 1930, the Wild Mary Sudik was brought under control. During the eleven days she ran wild, the runaway well spewed something over 200-million cubic feet of gas, and 20,000 barrels of oil a day.
Today you can see the valve that spilt in half and view from the newsreel film of the Wild Mary Sudik in the oil and gas and natural resources exhibit at the Oklahoma History Center. And you’ll want to explore the outdoor oil and gas park on the grounds of the History Center. The Oklahoma History Center is located on NE 23rd Street just east of the state capitol in Oklahoma City. Oklahoma Journeys is a production of the Oklahoma Historical Society, dedicated to collecting, preserving and sharing our state’s past. I’m Michael Dean