Interviewer(s): S. Wiltz. Lafayette, LA

Affiliation: University of Louisiana at Lafayette

Mr. Earl Marquardt was born in western Kansas in the late 1920s and was raised in a family of six on a cattle farm. Facing few job opportunities, he went to work in the newly developed Hugoton oil and gas field in Kansas. In the late 1950s or early 1960s he was transferred to Lafayette. He was a district superintendent for General American and was charged with overseeing the whole Gulf Coast. He retired from the company in 1984 when Phillips Petroleum bought out the company. Over the next two years he worked as a district engineer for First Energy in Houston. After leaving that position, he began consulting, a practice he continues today. He describes how the oil and service industries made Lafayette what it is today and how the industry, particularly in terms of loyalty and trust, has changed. He ends the interview by describing his one and only experience with a blowout, noting how he felt helpless when he saw the well on fire. Unfortunately there were audio difficulties during the first portion of the interview and there are no notes describing what was discussed.