Reuben C. Baker

Who was Reuben C. Baker?

Reuben Carlton "Carl" Baker, Sr. was an American oil industry drilling pioneer. He established the forerunner of Baker International in 1907 after developing a casing shoe that revolutionized cable tool drilling. In 1903, he introduced the offset bit for cable tool drilling to enable casing wells in hard rock and in 1912 the cement retainer that allowed casing to be cemented in the wells. Baker further improved the process with the float shoe in 1923. He is credited with obtaining more than 150 new or improved patents on oil drilling tools.

R. C. Baker was born to Mary Elizabeth and Reuben Baker in Purcellville, Virginia, and grew up in Shasta County, California, where his father, a Civil War veteran from Chester County, Pennsylvania, was a farmer turned carpenter. Carl's older brother, Aaron Alphonso Baker, Sr. had also gone into the oil business, after being a dry goods merchant in Fall River Township, Shasta County. Aaron was secretary of the Coalinga Petroleum Company, formed with six wells in Fresno County on January 23, 1905, capitalized with USD$75,000, and later sold to Samuel Allen "Al" Guiberson, Jr., on December 20, 1920.