Item 48: 00048_Bourg, George_MMS-History, 2003
Interviewer(s): J. Sell. Montegut, LA.
Affiliation: University of Arizona
George Bourg was recommended by Ed Henry, who had contacted him and explained the study. He was another of the Montegut Texaco hands, well acquainted with the others from there whom I had interviewed. We had a little trouble scheduling an appointment because his wife was ill, but eventually I was able to go to his house and talk. We had limited time because he had to take his wife to the doctor.
George Bourg grew up in Montegut. He dropped out of high school at 16 and began work with Texaco as a cook's helper. In 1943, when he reached 18, he went into the service. After studying gunnery for B-17s, he was shifted to the infantry, joining the 101st Airborne as a replacement just after the Battle of the Bulge. He returned in 1946 and returned to work for Texaco in the warehouse and office of the shipyard below Montegut. He didn't care for the 5 and 2 work, so he shifted back to cook's helper, then second cook on a 6 and 6 schedule. In 1949 he began work as a roughneck on the drilling barge, Shea. From there he moved up through derrickman to driller in 1966 and toolpusher in 1970. As a toolpusher, he worked in the Houma, Harvey, and New Iberia Districts in Louisiana, then in Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi. He returned to the Harvey District and retired in 1982 as field superintendent of the Lafitte field.
Dates
- 2003
Conditions Governing Access
Open for research.
Oral history interviews are only available for use when the University of Houston Libraries is in possession of a release form signed by both interviewee and interviewer allowing for such access.
Extent
From the Collection: 25.0 linear feet
Repository Details
Part of the University of Houston Libraries Special Collections Repository
University of Houston Libraries Special Collections
MD Anderson Library
4333 University Drive
Houston TX 77204-2000 USA
713-743-9750