Oil rigs like the ones in this Diorama were used on the Rodessa Oil field in the 1930s. In this type of rig, a drill-bit on the end of a large pipe is sent deep into the ground by the see-saw motion of the large arm, or “walking beam.” Once the bit reached the reservoir rock, a few thousand feet below the surface, pipe would be replaced. The new pipe would use the same see-saw motion to draw oil from the ground. Using the natural release of pressure the oil would travel up the pipe where it was stored in large oil drums. When the pressure was too much for the pipes to handle it would spew out of the top of the tower, as can be seen in the LSEM frescos.

Early in the oil rush, men drilled wherever they thought oil might be. This was often very close to other drilling sites, resulting in oil fields like Rodessa and Lake Charles. Today, large cylindrical samples of rock are drilled out of the ground in a grid like fashion. These core samples are used to verify the size and shape of oil and mineral deposits prior to the initial drilling.