Interviewer(s): A. Gardner. Franklin, LA

Affiliation: University of Arizona

Pete Gardner and his wife were recommended to me by Clyde Hahn. Clyde suggested Pete would be good to talk to about his career with drilling contractors. I met Pete at his house in Franklin. His wife was there, and both participated in the interview. Clyde was right about Pete - he had a lot to say, and he didn't mince words. He spends a lot of time talking about the negative impact of college graduates on the oilfield, and there's an interesting story about the declining welfare of his brother's drilling business. There are good descriptions of the early fields in the region, and what it was like for Pete and his wife to move around like nomads.

Pete was born in Texas in 1916. In 1934, his brother got him a job outside of Lafayette at the Boscoe field, and Pete went on to drill some of the first holes in a variety of fields in the area. He moved between various contractors before and after the war. He eventually became a drilling superintendent for a drilling contracting company owned by his brother. That company went broke, and he got out of the industry by opening a filling station in Franklin.