Interviewer(s): Andrew Gardner; Jamie Christy. Berwick, LA; Morgan City, LA

Affiliation: University of Arizona, University of Houston/History International

Rene Seneca was referred by Lou Trosclair. He was interviewed by Andrew Gardner in 2001 and then again by Jamie Christy in 2004.

Rene Seneca was born in Bayou Chene, Louisiana in 1922. His parents were fishermen and moss-pickers, but his father also cut cypress timber in south Louisiana. He spent time in the oil fields as a boy, bringing water to roughnecks. Mr. Seneca completed eighth grade and his family moved to Loreauville, Louisiana in 1937. He fought in the Army in World War II and went to Panama and the Pacific. He went to work for Texaco in 1947, driving crews out to the rigs. He remembers steam rigs and school board leases obtained by Texaco. Mr. Seneca drove a boat for Texaco and also "pumped" at Bateman Lake for 30 years. He went to Horseshoe Bayou as a roustabout in 1950 and moved to Berwick in 1954. Mr. Seneca retired from Texaco in 1983.