Which two individuals signed a twenty-year contract at Spindletop in 1901?

• A. Patillo Higgins and Walter Sharp
• B. John Archbold and Henry Flagler
• C. Everette DeGolyer and Marcus Samuel
• D. Marcus Samuel and James Guffey

Answer: (D)

This question tests how long-term partnerships formed around the Spindletop boom and what that signified for the oil industry’s growth. In 1901, a twenty-year contract was struck between Marcus Samuel and James Guffey. Samuel represented interests that would help launch Shell, while Guffey was a Pittsburgh financier who raised the money and provided the industrial backing to push Beaumont’s new oil field forward. This pairing shows early globalization of oil development: foreign capital and domestic know-how joining forces to secure and develop a rapidly expanding resource base. The other figures mentioned were important players in oil history in other contexts, but they did not sign this enduring agreement at Spindletop.