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Article: HORSE INDUSTRY STILL IMPORTANT TO PURCELL ECONOMY
- Article from:
- THE JOURNAL RECORD
- Article date:
- June 3, 1989
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright (null) The Journal Record. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Through the late 1970s and early 1980s, Oklahoma's horse industry
rode the coattails of a euphoric oil and gas boom.
Predominant among Oklahoma's thriving equine scheme was the
McClain County community of Purcell. Even before the boom, Purcell
was a hotbed of horse show and horse racing establishments, but oil
dollars spurred it to even greater prosperity, to claim the title of
"Horse Capitol of Oklahoma."
The inflated oil and gas industry was not perpetual, however,
and many Purcell horse operations fell victim to the oil busts of
1982 and 1986. Few have fully recovered.
"Many places were owned by people who had oil and gas interest,"
said Bob Atterberry, manager of the ...