Joseph Sterling Bridwell
| Joseph Sterling Bridwell | |
|---|---|
| Born |
March 23, 1885 Northview, Webster County Missouri, US |
| Died | May 8, 1966 (aged 81) Wichita Falls, Texas |
| Resting place | Riverside Cemetery in Wichita Falls |
| Residence | Wichita Falls, Texas |
| Occupation | Oilman; rancher; philanthropist |
| Spouse(s) | Thora Jones Bridwell (died 1941) |
| Children | Two daughters, Leslie and Margaret |
Joseph Sterling Bridwell, often known as J. S. Bridwell (March 23, 1885 - May 9, 1966), was an oilman, rancher, and philanthropist from Wichita Falls, Texas, United States.
Bridwell was born in Northview in Webster County in southern Missouri and attended public school in nearby Marshfield, Missouri. After a short time in Oklahoma, Bridwell relocated in 1909 to Wichita Falls. First involved in the barbed wire and real estate business, he first drilled for oil in 1917 and formed the Cashion Oil Company. In 1921, Bridwell leased ranchland near Nocona, Texas, from the large landholder William T. Waggoner. He found this land rich in petroleum and drilled there in 1921. In 1927, his newly established Bridwell Oil Company owned more than seven hundred wells in Texas, Oklahoma, and four other western states. During the 1940s and 1950s, Bridwell was the largest independent oil operator in Texas. Bridwell was affiliated with most of the interest groups created to support the oil industry, such as the American Petroleum Institute and the Texas Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association (now the Texas Oil & Gas Association). In 1933, Bridwell was among those who developed the business code for the oil industry under U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's since defunct New Deal agency, the National Recovery Administration.
During the 1930s, Bridwell purchased ranches near Wichita Falls in adjacent Archer and Clay counties near the communities of Archer City and Henrietta, Texas. By 1952, Bridwell had in excess of 160,000 acres, 100 ranch employees, and 6,000 head of livestock, some 20 percent of which was registered. Among Bridwell's many prize specimens was "Larry Domino", the world champion bull of 1939. He established the Bridwell Soil Builders Award program for Archer, Clay, and Wichita counties. In 1935, Bridwell was the president of the Wichita Falls Chamber of Commerce; in 1940, he was the founding president of the West Texas Chamber of Commerce. He was a board member of various ranching organizations, including the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association and the , both in Fort Worth, the American Quarter Horse Association in Amarillo, and the Wichita Falls Farm and Ranch Club.
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