Table of Contents Introduction The Railroads Come to Texas Land Transportation in Early Texas Water Transportation in Early Texas The Impact of the Transportation Problem Texas Railroads Before the Civil War Early Railroad Regulation The Civil War and Texas Railroads Texas Railroads After the Civil War The Fight for the Commission The Grange The Farmers vs. the Railroads Legislative Efforts The Farmers' Alliance The Texas Traffic Association "Arrogant Capitalists and Powerful Corporations" Enter Jim Hogg The Legislative Session of 1889 The Election of 1890 An Idea Whose Time Had Come John H. Reagan and Early Regulation John H. Reagan The Commission Under Attack The Election of 1892 The Supreme Court Upholds the Commission Progressive Regulation An Agency Matures Decline of Railroad Power The Oil Wars Early Days Spindletop: Present at the Creation Boom, Boom, Boom Common Carriers Blood of War, Blood of Peace The Growing Crisis "A Nostrum Worthy of a Blatter Skite Politician" "God Still Rules the Universe" The Largest Oil Field in the World The Railroad Commission at Bay The MacMillan Case Sterling Sends in the Troops Hot Oil: East Texas Under Martial Law The Turning of the Tide No Quick Fix Enter the Feds The Era of State and Federal Cooperation Begins The Connally Hot Oil Act The Power Years The Aftermath of the Storm The Duties of the Railroad Commission Ernest O. Thompson World War II and Texas Oil Post-War Glory The Rising Tide of Foreign Oil The Railroad Commission Reacts Regulatory Issues of the 1960s The End of an Era Other Responsibilities Natural Gas Liquified Petroleum Gas Motor Carriers and Buses Surface Mining Jim Crow The Railroad Commission Today Glossary Online Finding Aids Suggested Reading and Links Home>>