The J. J. Moore No. 1 was the first producing oil well in Scurry County and opened a major West Texas petroleum area. It was drilled from February to October 1923 by E. I. (Tommy) Thompson, W. W. Lechner, and E. E. (Buddy) Fogelson of Loutex Corp.; W. A. Reiter located the well, and Leon English was field geologist. The drillers were Jesse Thomas, Begossa Murphy, Tom Mann, Charlie Dodson, and Sim Taylor, while tool dresser James O. Jarmon was the only man who worked the well from top to bottom. Pat and Mike Moore, the young sons of the landowner, helped fire the steam boiler. The drill struck a pressurized reservoir of "cold air," nitrogen and helium unique in Texas at that time, which blew mud and water sixty feet above the wellhead. Once harnessed, this gas replaced steam in operating the drilling and also refrigerated food and water. Completed to 3575 feet and plugged back to 1800 feet in the San Andres formation, the well has yielded over 500,000 barrels of oil and is still producing. Several nearby dry holes were drilled in 1924, and low prices in the twenties further discouraged exploration, but the Sharon Ridge Field eventually brought in more than 2200 wells. In 1948 deep wells began tapping the canyon reef in Scurry County, which now has more than 4,000 oil wells.