The Fabulous Heywood Brothers - Book Review

The book The Fabulous Heywood Brothers by Jerry D. Frazee is a wonderful slice of Texas history about the earliest days of the oil boom in Texas and Louisiana. I really enjoyed this book. The Heywood brothers were originally traveling entertainers in the northern United States. Though the book does describe some of the activities of the other Heywood brothers, the book is primarily about the amazing activities of Scott Heywood.

Following years as a traveling entertainer, Scott Heywood would first try his hand as miner in the Alaskan Gold Rush. After failing to make a go of the Alaskan gold fields, Scott Heywood attempted drilling for oil in California where he gained minor success and valuable experience. Within days of hearing about the Lucas gusher at Spindletop, he became one of the very first wildcatters in Texas. Scott Heywood drilled the second oil well, a gusher, at Spindletop and would go on to drill the very first oil well in the state of Louisiana.

As a successful oilman, Scott Heywood would become involved in Louisiana state politics as a state Senator and even get crossways with the infamous Governor Huey P. Long.

If you have ever wondered about those early days of oil in Texas or the wildcatters that located it, this book is for you. Follow one of those wildcatters as he risks it all on a hole in the ground and wins. At about 196 pages, the book is a quick and entertaining read. It is such an interesting story; I wish it had been longer. This is Jerry D. Frazee’s first commercial book and we are hoping to see more from him in the future. The Fabulous Heywood Brothers is available from ALavenderPublication.com and is only $10.00 including tax and shipping. An online PDF version is also available for $6.00.