Herbert Roedenbeck (1881-1975) in the given course of time will suffice as one of the last legendary pioneers of this century; his achievements in agriculture and land development proved to be an integral part of the present demographic status of Southeast Texas.
Mr. Roedenbeck is credited as having planted one of the first commercial scale rice crops in Chambers County in 1910, developing a new strain of rice that became known as the "Roedenbeck Prolific"; during his tenure as Chambers County land commissioner, 1920-1924, he eradicated the fever tick by mandatory dipping of cattle, mostly longhorns. Roedenbeck is responsible for the migration of over five thousand emigrants to this area through his land development transactions. After having lost most of his holdings, Roedenbeck became active in the oil leasing business in Chambers and Jefferson Counties where he estimated transactions in excess of 300,000 acres.
The above excerpt from his biography - Tyrrell Historical Library Archives
"My first rice farm operation was in 1910 on 160 acres on H. T. & B. Railway Co. section 113 in Chambers County. The land was sod and in spite of brackish irrigation from the Lone Star Canal, we made two barrels per acre and broke even. In 1911, '12, and '13, I leased some of my lands to rice farmers for $2.50 per acre per year. Some of the crops in those years were lost, because the Canal Water was polluted by salt water which had entered Turtle Bay which acted as a reservoir from which the water was pumped into the canal. It took several years before the canal water was fairly free from the influx of salt water. It took great engineering and a lot of money to assure safety of the water for irrigation under the Lone Star of Anahuac Canal."
"During World War One, before the U. S. entered the War in 1917, the price of rice advanced until it reached $16 per barrel of rough rice in 1918-1919 to May 1920. The increase in price from $2 to $3 per barrel in 1912-13, induced many non-farmers, lawyers, bankers, barbers, and other professionals to enter rice farming mostly by financing farmers for a share of the crop."
"1917 was the best rice year of those times, season was favorable, price of rice up to $12 per barrel, labor still low, and equipment and feed still reasonable."