The Rig Maker

At the turn of the century, an oil boom occurred that turned wildcatters into wealthy men, but drillers weren't the only ones who found fortune in the gushers popping up all over Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana in the early 1900?s. Kentucky born lumberjack and carpenter J.W. King was proof of that. King migrated south during the boom and traded the only thing he had to offer, his hard work, in hopes of using the oil boom to make a better life for his family. King worked his way from...
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At the turn of the century, an oil boom occurred that turned wildcatters into wealthy men, but drillers weren't the only ones who found fortune in the gushers popping up all over Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana in the early 1900?s. Kentucky born lumberjack and carpenter J.W. King was proof of that. King migrated south during the boom and traded the only thing he had to offer, his hard work, in hopes of using the oil boom to make a better life for his family. King worked his way from boom town to boom town building derricks in exchange for royalties, and ultimately acquired a sizable fortune himself. Unfortunately for King and his family, the fortune that he worked so hard to make vanished once King and his wife, Rachel, passed away. Since his death, the pursuit of the missing fortune has produced riddles, mysterious deaths, false claims, family rivalry, and a host of scam artists looking to make a fast million. In this book, author and King heir Dinah Robnett breaks open the mystery of the J.W. King fortune and explores both J.W. King's life and all the events that have transpired since his death, as she and her family are still trying to find out what happened to her great great grandfather's fortune. From government scandals to crooked lawyers, Mrs. Robnett exposes the fakes and sheds light on the facts in this extraordinary tale of rags to riches turned mystery.