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Henry Harrison Tucker Jr., as the youthful David with sling, confronts John D. Rockefeller, as Goliath, holding a large club labeled “Standard Oil.”
Comments and Context
In the same way that history largely remembers Thomas W. Lawson as a crusader who wrote his articles and book “Frenzied Finance” as an expose of Wall Street corruption — but was actually a non-apologetic bit of revenge on his former partners in mining trusts — so is Henry Harrison Tucker, Junior, often recalled (if at all) as the little David of the oil fields challenging big, bad John D. Rockefeller. So in Puck cartoonist J. S. Pughe depicted the blonde-haired loner.
Much of the public viewed Tucker this way at the time. He founded the Uncle Sam Oil Company and the Texas American Syndicate at the time of this cartoon, when, contrarily, the Rockefellers were gobbling up oil companies and wildcat drillers across the landscape.
Tucker, however, left a mixed record of success and a rather unambiguous trail of schemes, frauds, and litigation. Years later (1922) an article about Tucker’s career in Financial World magazine quoted descriptions of him as a “swindler and a fake more contemptible than any one of his breed… [combining] vicious slander and libel in order to serve his mercenary purposes.”
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1905-03-22
Creator(s)
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909
Period
U.S. President – 2nd Term (March 1905-February 1909)
Repository
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
Page Count
1
Record Type
Image
Resource Type
Rights
These images are presented through a cooperative effort between the Library of Congress and Dickinson State University. No known restrictions on publication.
Citation
Cite this Record
Chicago:
A Kansas David in the field. [March 22, 1905]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278086. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909. A Kansas David in the field. [22 Mar. 1905]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. February 13, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278086.
APA:
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909., [1905, March 22]. A Kansas David in the field.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278086.
Cite this Collection
Chicago:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. February 13, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs.
APA:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs.
