The icon of Joe Roughneck has become the symbol of determination of the American petroleum industry worker, reaffirming the indomitable spirit of Chief Roughnecks the world over, past, present and future. Famed artist Torg Thompson portrayed Joe wearing the rugged countenance of a man who had spent long hours at hard labor in the oil fields. Joe's jaw was squarely set to denote determination, his nose flattened as a souvenir of the rollicking life of a boomtown. His eyes were softened to indicate the kindness and generosity of his breed.

His busts are used as markers at several historic oil fields.The original Joe Roughneck resides outside the Gaston Museum near Joinerville and it includes a time capsule sealed at the dedication on March 17, 1957, and to be opened in 2056. The capsule will tell future generations about the giant East Texas oilfield discovered by Columbus Marion “Dad” Joiner in early October 1930.

In Conroe, Joe Roughneck rests on a monument in Candy Cane Park at the Heritage Museum of Montgomery County. He commemorates the discovery of the 19,000-acre Conroe oilfield by George Strake in 1931 and others who discovered the Conroe oil field.The monument recognizes the completion of Strake’s Conroe oilfield discovery well in June of 1932.

Kilgore hosts a third Joe Roughneck that was erected on March 2, 1986, in Sesquicentennial Plaza, celebrating the “boomers” who settled in Kilgore during the 1930s. During the East Texas boom, Kilgore had the densest number of wells in the world. Today’s World’s Richest Acre Park displays a pumping unit and the city has restored dozens of derricks from Kilgore’s boomtown birth.