Interviewer(s): J. Sell. Houma, LA

Affiliation: University of Arizona

Harold Burton was recommended by Adrian Bonnette as a toolpusher who really knew how to do the work. Adrian called me earlier with the news that he had talked to Harold ahead of time and had gotten him to agree to be interviewed. We met at Harold's home on a nice Saturday morning and spent the whole interview time on his back porch. We talked for almost 3 hours. He was very responsive to my questions and patient at explaining how the work was done in the oil field. Subsequent informants have referred to Mr. Burton as one of the most knowledgeable about drilling.

Harold Burton has the reputation of being a "toolpusher's toolpusher." His grandfather worked for the Texas Company (production foreman) in Shreveport and raised his brother and himself (his brother is an MD), so Harold grew up in the oil field. He started doing well salvage for independent contractors in Illinois. His grandfather asked him to come back to Louisiana and got him a roustabout job with Texaco in 1950. After working on land rigs around Oil City, he transferred to the Harvey district, as roustabout on the drilling barge, Gibbon. In 1956 he worked on Texaco's largest barge, the Terrebonne Bay, as a driller. He moved up to toolpusher later that year and in 1958 was promoted to dome foreman at Leeville. Later he worked in that capacity at Lake Barre and Caillou Island. The dome foreman was in charge of all activity in a field -construction, drilling, production. He spent 14 years in that position at Caillou Island, which was Texaco's largest field (he said at one time they had 1800 wells there), retiring from there in 1983. He has worked occasionally as consultant since then.