[1] The site had been a 10,000-acre (40 km2) area of rolling plains and hills used for cattle grazing (potreros).

Hundreds of little asphalt springs dotted the area where cattle bones could be seen caught in the black seepage.

The town's population grew exponentially following the drilling of the Cerro Azul No.

4 well, at the time the world's largest pumping 260,000 barrels per day (BPD), in February 1916.

The well was drilled by Herbert Wylie for the Mexican Petroleum Company, then controlled by California oilman Edward L. Doheny.