Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1865-03-22
THE BIG SANDY OLE REglON.
on Bic SandY---Sighfs and
seeneS--PeIrOIeum IndfeatfODs.'-In-
eidents, sc, dc.
CATLETTsBuRa, KY, March 1s, '65.

Il EDITOR LEADER: Catlettsburg is the csp-
itsl of Boyd county, and is situated at the
mouth of Big Sandy river, 1eO miles above
Cincinnati, and I34 miles below Parkers-
burg, Va The visitor, on arriving here, is
not long in discovering thst he is in the
midst of the oil region. The bsr-roons of
the little dirty hotels are crowded with
mud -bespsttered, trsyel-stsined men, who
talk learnedly and earnestly on oil. There
is q rattle of glasses among rough-clad men
with keen, sharp visages, who have just re-
turned from an exploring trip up Big
Sandy. There you see prominent mer-
chants, dignifed judges, grave divines, wise
senators, railway presidents, learned law
yers, doctors, preachers, hostlers-sll SEEM
inely anninted with oil and they shine
and glisten with it, like Moses when he re-
turned from the Mount Oil has burst
forth as a great speculative fame, and
throws in the shade our Morus Multicsulis
mania, raging few years sgo.
Have Just been listening to q babel of
tongues, zm1d the cloud of tobacco SMOKE,
from all sorts Of men, and the words one
can distinguish are-capital leases-fee
simple-ffty barrels d.sy-AoWing we'll
burning spring gas spri pg-oil-hundred
and fifty feet-forty thousa I'D dollsrs-good
lease, only one-ffteenth Groyalty oil
our compsny-bought a lyrest bargain
= sold = made 8 pile = oil - got
new engine-derricks up-en gine shipped
commenced boring-good sh ow-dipped
two hundred barrels on Poin,t-sold out,
and made-bust up, and left-fs iled-oil-
dollsrs-rehne = lubricsting = Town the
Creek-oil-suction well-gas spring
jets Of foil-oil-lesses-tl -tltles-bo nds-be-
tween you and I-oil-do not say q word
-drill-d-d swindle-big thh1g-mil-
Hon-gu guerrillss-dangerou taking money
came back with q ragged bob-tsil,'d coat
found AZ lesse-same trsck-and so on,
till ones head swims with the greasy topic.
The attention of the public is beng
drawn towards Big Sandy and its tribute
ries, as probably the best surface indiea-
tions of oil, excepting California, in the
United States. Among the best of them
are Middle Creek, at Prestonburg, Point
Greek, at Pointsville, and Blame, below
Louisa.
Any person desiring to come here to
prospect, lease or purchase oil territory,
has need Of all the caution he can COM
msnd, and must bear in mind that many
Of the most eligible locations are already
bought up and leased. Still, there are
prizes to be drawn. Hundreds of wells
will be put down this summer, on Sandy
Valley, unless disturbed by guerriIlss.
Many will make large fortunes, and ma
jority who persevere cannot fail to do well.
Those companies founded on good fee sim
pie estates, and judieIously managed, are
sure to make money.
In the hills of this valley, the original
structure Of the rocks cannot be determin-
ed, for they have been crushed out and
upturned and overturned, contorted and
fractured, IN the wild confusion. The
strata have been violently disrupted and
decline at angles from five degrees toffty-
in some places they are almost vertical.
This line of geographical disturbance is
well marked and singular in its character.
From the mouth of Blame Creek the incli-
nation is southwark, while from Middle
Creek if is northwsrd-s distance of over
sixty miles. This dislocation and inelina-
CHI 10 ulsbluIbil bAdCNn Ofol LILO SUM
init of the highest hills and in the depth
of the lowest valleys. The uniform incli-
nation is South and North.
The popular belief is that within the
range Of these "creeks," as boundaries, the
best location for wells will be found, and
that in this basin is the source of supply. |
1t Is fact that within this boundary most |
of the surface indications have been found. !
1 visited an old salt we'll ct the mouth of
Blame Creek, where gas is constantly es-
Gaping TO the surface of the water, making
it boil like pot. It is thegenersl opinion
that in this basin good wells can be pro-
duced at depth of seVenty-fve to four
hundred and eighty feet.
The evidences of oil in this region, both
by surface indications and wells bored years
ago for salt, and those dug for oil in 1859
80, are numerous. Several wells st the
mouth of Blame, and above on Big Sandy,
dug twenty years ago, were abandoned be-
cause The salt water was impregnated with
oil.
Judge Harris, of Prestonburg, sunk
well at the mouth of Middle Creek, 48O
feet deep, when the drill dropped through
q small creVice, and oil was elected from
eight to ten feet, and continued to flow for
weeks, running down the river, covering
the water with oil, and making the huss Of
the rainbow whan the sun shone upon it.
This well was finally abandoned and plug
ed up as worthless. Several citizens, then
living in Prestonsburg, attest the truth of
the above among them Mr.. Harkness,
an old and respectable citizen, resident of
Prestonsburg for mora than thirty years,
also Capt. Cummings and Mr.. Foster, the
latter then q merchant Of PrestOnsburg,
and now q resident of Catlettsburg.
On Big Paint Greek oil has been gather
ed for several years, on the surface, BY
making temporary dams when the Wster
was low, and then skimming it of. Capt
Dixon has been engaged in this business
every summer since 1858, more or less, and
and in this way has collected from forty to
one hundred barrels per season. Some es-
innate that over two hundred barrels have
been thus gathered in q year.
On the head waters of Blame Creek, oil
and gas rise TO the surface Of streams. or
issue from the assures of rocks at innumer-
| able places. Mr.. Cummings, a Scotch ge-
ologist, who has for years been exploring
that country, says that small jets Of oil now
how freely from the assures of rocks along
the line Of the extensive disturbance and
uphesvsls that are found on Blame, Paint,
Middle and Rockcsstle Creeks. Near Sal
yersville, son the head waters of Paint and
Blame Creeks, is large burning spring, six
feet in circumference, over which shed IS
erected where the people of the neighbor-
hood dry their truit. Similar gas springs
abound in this basin lying between Beaver
and Blame Creek.
The eager oil seeker has pushed his
prospecting within the rebel lines. A gem
tleman from Pittsburg, who was in COM
pany, strsyed off and was captured by the
rebels, taken to the commanders head
quarters near Pikston, and released, the
commander giving him pass, saying that
| oil men should not be disturbed In their
efforts to develope the country.
Everybody you meet has his pockets