uipment, a patent for his process, and efficient management. To cope with these needs and increasing demands for his service, in 1920 Halliburton organized the Halliburton Oil Well Cementing Company. One year later, 17 trucks carried his crews and equipment to drilling sites in Louisiana, Arkansas, and other oil-rich areas from a base in Wilson, Oklahoma, as well as from the new company headquarters in Duncan, Oklahoma. Part of this growing reputation came from uncompromisingly reliable service, which was enhanced by new equipment invented by Halliburton to meet the needs of each project. One creation that revolutionized the oil industry was the jet mixer, a mechanized mixer that did away with hand-mixing of the minimum 250 bags of cement and water slurry needed for each well. Because it could control the proportions of cement and water, it eliminated wasted slurry that would harden before it could be poured.
By 1922, the company owned $14,000 worth of equipment and was paying some of its cementers $300 monthly. Two years later, Halliburton, with his wife Vida as his partner, set out to expand. To finance this the couple converted their partnership into a corporation and offered a substantial interest in their business to other oil companies. Their trump card lay in their meticulous patenting of all new processes and devices, which had left the oil companies unable to have oil wells cemented without using Halliburton services. Company patents also covered processes designed for well recementing, a maintenance necessity that gave the Halliburtons relative independence from competitors.
In 1924, the Halliburton Oil Well Cementing Company became a corporation in Delaware. The Halliburtons held 52 percent of the stock, and the Magnolia, Texas, Gulf, Humble, Sun, Pure, and Atlantic oil companies jointly held 48 percent. So as to retain equal voting rights with their