Historical Perspectives on Business Enterprise Series OIL BARON OF THE SOUTHWEST Edward L Doheny and the Development of the Petroleum Industry in California and Mexico 1 Martin R. Ansell OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS COLUMBUS Copyright © 1998 by The Ohio State University. All rights reserved. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ansell, Martin R., 1957­ Oil baron of the Southwest: Edward L. Doheny and the development of the petroleum industry in California and Mexico / Martin R. Ansell. p. cm.—(Historical perspectives on business enterprise series) Based on the author's doctoral dissertation, University of Texas at Austin. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8142-0749-9 (cloth : alk. paper). 1. Doheny, Edward L. (Edward Laurence), 1856-1935. 2. Industrialists—United States—Biography. 3. Petroleum industry and trade—California, Southern—History. 4. Petroleum industry and trade—United States—History. 5. Petroleum industry and trade— Mexico—History. I. Title. II. Series. HD9570.D64A57 1998 338.7'6223382'092—dc21 [B] 97-37567 CIP Text and jacket design by Paula Newcomb. Type set in Minion by Graphic Composition, Inc. Printed by Thomson-Shore, Inc. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials. ANSI Z39.48-1992. 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 21 For my father, Raymond M. Ansell, who I know would have been proud to see this book finished, and to my son, Isaac M. Ansell, who I hope will be equally generous when he's old enough to read it. CONTENTS Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1 Early Years in the West 7 2 Oil and Railroads in Southern California, 1892-1902 23 3 The Birth of the Mexican Oil Industry, 1900-1910 52 4 Return to California, 1908-1912 87 5 Creating an International Oil Company, 1912-1915 105 6 The Pan American Petroleum & Transport Company, 1916 130 7 The Vision of Peace: Fuel Oil for the War 147 8 Promoting an Oil Policy for Mexico, 1917-1920 162 9 Domestic Politics and International Relations: Ireland and Japan, 1920-1921 180 10 Salt Water and Revolution: Mexico, 1921-1923 196 11 The Bark of Political Wolves: Doheny and the Oil Scandal 212 Conclusion 238 Appendix A Production and Sales of the Mexican and Huasteca Petroleum Companies, 1901-1914 245 Appendix B Oil Production and Exports for the Mexican Petroleum Industry, 1916-1924 246 vu Vlll CONTENTS Appendix C Companies Owned and Controlled by the Pan American Petroleum & Transport Company at Its Incorporation, 1916 250 Appendix D Relative Sizes of the Largest American Oil Companies by Total Assets 252 Notes 253 Index 295 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Because the subject of this book was a controversial histori­ cal figure who left few trails to follow, tracking him down proved to be a singularly independent effort. Having said that, however, no one succeeds without help. Over time, there have been a host of unsung heroes in the form of researchers and archivists from around the country who had a hand in digging out bits of information that appeared to have no connec­ tion to Doheny upon first discovery but formed crucial links later on. In particular, I would like to thank Connie Menninger of the Kansas State Historical Society, who made numerous forays into the records of the At­ chison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad to discover new material. Several members of National Archives staff, especially Fred Klose and Laura Mc­ Carthy of the Pacific Coast Branch, were very helpful in extracting long- buried legal cases that filled out a significant part of the story. And Monsi­ gnor Francis Weber of the Archival Center of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles rescued the final scraps of Doheny memorabilia from the auction block and made them and himself available to me on numerous occasions. The maps in the book were drawn by Joe Sambataro. Having begun this project as a doctoral student at the University of Texas at Austin, I owe a debt of gratitude to Lewis Gould, who oversaw the initial work with an even hand, a long rope, and consistent encouragement. When it was com­ pleted, he was also instrumental in persuading Mansel Blackford, the co­ editor of this series, to take a look at an excessively long dissertation mas­ querading as a book. Above everyone else, however, I owe the success of this work to my wife, Carol. She not only endured a project that lasted years beyond what IX X ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I anticipated, but she read innumerable versions of chapters, argued points, and made essential contributions at every step of the way, all the while pursuing a career of her own. And during her only hiatus, I can vividly recall several weeks when she sat with our newborn son on one side and a stack of my pages on the other helping me edit the final draft of the manuscript. Love is the only thing that accounts for such effort, and I will always be thankful for it.