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Wicked WIldcatters

Chapter One

It was almost like a dream, following the 1956 year-end triple sports MVP award ceremony at the high school's swimming pool, three of Lee Hillcrest's teammates delivered a stinging but good-natured roasting. When they finished, they began taunting Lee to come up front to say something, and they got the crowd to join in with "Speech, Speech, Speech."

Lee, never shy and always quick of wit, seized the opportunity and joined his three teammates at the podium. "Thank you all, my parents, coaches, and especially you, my teammates, who, truth be told, had you not been second best, I couldn’t have won this award."

As the crowd broke out in laughter, the three teammates picked up Lee and threw him into the pool. After getting out of the pool and drying off, Lee realized he didn’t have much time; the bus left in 2 hours.

"Tickets please," the bus driver called out. Lee handed him the wet and slightly crumpled one-way ticket. The driver tore off the stub, looked up, and hollered, "Well, I'll be! It's Lee Hillcrest. You're Lee Hillcrest!"

Lee, befuddled, replied, "Yes, sir."

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"Folks," the driver squawked over the intercom, "we have a celebrity on board, Lee Hillcrest, the best dang athlete to ever come from these parts." The driver leaned back, covered microphone and whispered, "Son, you can sit anywhere you want but the back is where you can stretch your legs. You have a long ride ahead of you."

Embarrassed, his face flushed, Lee ambled down the aisle. As he passed each row he would hear, "Congratulations," "Make us proud," "Show them what you got"!

Lee found a place to sit on the last row, the seat drowned in the smell of diesel fuel from the rusty old 1950s Greyhound Bus. This is going to be a long and smelly ride, he thought. The brakes let out a "Ssss" and the bus lurched forward. Is this happening? Am I really leaving Midland? Lee lowered his window and took a deep breath. As he exhaled, he caught a glimpse of a faded yellow bullet-dimpled sign, "Thanks for Visiting Midland. Y'all Come Back."

When Lee stepped onto that Greyhound, it was a big deal for the Hillcrests. It meant the family had a future. Lee was the only child of Agnes and James Hillcrest. Agnes and Jim were high school sweethearts who married during the great depression. Although the nation's conditions improved, their personal fortunes didn't. One of Jim's proudest moments was the day he closed on a small two-bedroom manufactured shotgun house, next to the railroad tracks. Now his son had a roof over his head and a safe place sleep in this small West Texas town.

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Although bright, Lee was no scholar. What he lacked in wealth and study habits he made up for in strength and stamina. His good looks and affable charm were only exceeded by his God-given talent. Lee stood over six feet tall with broad shoulders, long muscular arms, legs as thick as bricks, and feet the size of paddles. Lee was, by any standard, a remarkable athlete. There weren't many students like Lee who were offered a full-ride swimming scholarship their sophomore year in High School. In Midland, Lee Hillcrest was a swimming legend.

Though a great athlete, Lee believed there was more to life than swimming. He wanted to be a successful businessman. A man admired in the community not for his trophies and medals but for business prowess. More specifically, he wanted to be an "Oil Man."

This dream didn't appear out of the blue. Midland, Texas sat on one of the largest oil reserves in the world. Drilling for crude was "The" business in Texas and Oklahoma, and Lee lived in oil's shadow his whole adolescent life. The local football and baseball team were sponsored by a wildcatter. The library was built by a petroleum company. Even the high school mascot was a "Roughneck." Everything around him, familiar to him, had something to do with oil. Lee knew that in order to get into the business, he needed to learn as much as he could as quickly as possible. He had to go to college.

Because the University of Oklahoma wanted Lee Hillcrest on their team, they had done their research. When it came time for the recruiter to meet with the Hillcrests, he didn't talk about winning national championships, but instead highlighted the attributes of the OU Petroleum and Geological Engineering Department. As he waved a professionally prepared flyer in the air, the OU coach said, "Son, all you need to do is read this, and call me in the morning."

Lee picked up the pamphlet and read:

"OU petroleum engineers work with nature to develop new technologies for improved oil and gas recovery while minimizing impact on the natural world. A career in petroleum engineering provides new experiences and, because of the global operations, plenty of opportunity to experience a vast array of unique places and cultures…"

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Lee stopped reading. His finger traced back to, "plenty of opportunity to experience a vast array of unique places and cultures…" he paused again for a second, and reread, "unique places and cultures." Did that mean a college degree would land him a job in a "unique" place like San Antonio, Dallas, or even Houston? The coach was right, Lee's mind was made up. It was time to pack his bags. "Boomer Sooner!"​