![]() ![]() ![]() But after 3000 people packed in the opulent lobby, things began to go badly, and tables were knocked over and panic ensued. McCarthy had invited 2000 to the big spare-no-expense hotel opening, including setting up an NBC live radio broadcast to listen to Pat O’Brien do the honors. His opening gala would be the stuff of legends…he used a plane he bought from Howard Hughes to fly in movie stars, along with a chartered train with Ginger Rogers, Van Johnson, Eddie Rickenbacker and other big shots on board. One oilman named Glenn McCarthy decided that he’d build the largest hotel ever built right outside of Houston in 1945, and he named it the Shamrock. These names might be familiar, since Murk’s descendants went on to own the Dallas Cowboys…and Howard Hunt’s kids became famous for trying to corner the market in silver. The Big Four who put Texas on the money map are Sid Richardson, Clint Murchison, Roy Cullen and Howard Hunt. It’s a story of rise, then fall, fantastic tales of men who clawed their way into the business and again and again, lose it all, then start anew. ![]() I’m reading a fun book called The Big Rich by Bryan Burrough, in which the fortunes of the men who created the Texas oil industry are chronicled. ![]()
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