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Okay here it is in a nutshell.
The big money came from George W. Bush's Great-Grandfather George Herbert Walker. Don't remember exactly how he made his money but it was in St. Louis and then he moved to New York. He was big time money in the league of the Vanderbilt's, J.P. Morgan,E.H. Harriman, etc..
George W. Bush's grandfather, Prescott Bush, was an investment banker and was a partner in Brown Brothers, Harriman, as in E.H. Harriman and his son Averel Harriman, former Governor of N.Y. and Pamela's last husband.
Prescott was a U.S. Senator from Conn. for one term. George H.W. Bush with his eastern connections, moved to Midland , Texas after the war and got in the Oil Business, set up Zapata Petroleum, first compnay that specialzed in offshore oil drilling. There you have it.

G. H. Walker (and his sons) ran what ultimately became a sizeable and very profitable stock brokerage and investment banking firm, G. H. Walker & Co. The firm was purchased by White, Weld & Co. in the 1970s. One of the grandsons (perhaps a great-grandson, even) is now CEO of another brokerage here in STL.