Though many travelers on historic trails found this area arid and inhospitable, the surrounding lands, given to the University of Texas in 1876, were leased to cattlemen. The Kansas City, Mexico & Orient Railroad built its line here in 1911 but did little local hauling. Development followed when Frank Pickrell and Haymon Krupp of Texon Oil and Land Company drilled for oil, and their driller, Carl Cromwell, brought in Santa Rita No. 1, the first gusher in the Permian Basin, on May 28, 1923. Texon, the first company town in the Permian Basin, was founded in 1924 by Big Lake Oil Company. Levi Smith, president of the firm, planned and supervised construction of the town, and Ted Williams served as city manager for the company. Texon had stores, shops, a school, a physician, a dentist, a hospital, a theater, a park, a well-known baseball team, and many recreational facilities. The post office opened in 1926. As many as 2000 people lived there, though boosters claimed up to 10,000, working in drilling, a gasoline plant, an oil treating plant, and other operations. Plymouth Oil Company absorbed Big Lake Oil Company, then sold out to Marathon Oil Company, and the company town closed in 1962.