As Houston steadily grew in the early 20th century, the commercial and civic elite focused on the communitys industrial expansion and economic prosperity. Aviation played a significant role in that aspiration. With the earliest birdmen of the skies offering a suggestion of the economic potential of flight, Houston-area policymakers solicited and welcomed military aviation, first at Ellington Field and later on Galveston Island. As early as the 1920s, the burgeoning Houston energy industry realized the value and utility of aircraft as business tools. Aircraft were uniquely capable of quickly...