Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1884-09-10

DrcAr on rnx sIrS offTaoEE
m, rsersm~sar ktss and FaIi 81 the Great
Osl rswa which Yves fsssAed ~ the Dad
Cfy ChsmberIats.


win J. Nelson Tappaa has rccallcd 70 tlis
minds az many of the Older men " wall
street the peculiar circumstances attending
inc birth. phenomenal growth. aed naal
extinction Of city whSrh Mr. Taplan
;sunfsd as a business enterprise IN the
syripg Of tsGA This cry has hong since
crown dim IN tho mcieories OF Walks.rcct
Aep, AID Is slowly bat surely slippag
ftom the pages Of ccmoitrcial history, but
tie casual review OF the events OF Mr.. Zap.
mans life has brought back sts strange ca.
rcr viii moro THAI usual torce and dis
tiacncss
II was called !qihole, and the wooded
bills 81 Nesthwesteru Pennsylvania held II
in such unrelcuiiuy gr sp fiat only tlc most
primitive oi civilizations usagcs gained
fcoibold there. In the spring OF 1865 The
site q Pifhole was IN almost Jnbroken
wilderness; three months later 1900 pco-
pie were camred on the hiIlsits and be-
fore Christmas the city had a population
~ fully $1,000. To-day only The
ruins of hotel snd halt OF an old
Ioe house are found within ridlns
81 many miles. To the people OF North
western Pennsylvania |, is remembered as
thc most remarkable oil town ever knosyn
IN The cratic and CT ciiable history OF the
petroleum. industry. Tao history OF this
sr,uge place and Mr.. Tappau's connection
wi 4 I. are best told. PERHAPS, IN the Ian
err re OF an old WalLsfroct man. whose
restless nature many years ago led him 10
bfc. me a pilgrim 10 that mecca which.
~ lies. attracted the attention Of spccula-
fiye:porsons In all raris OF the world.
TIE closing DAYS OF Jnrc. 1865. (sEid the
old t.cn;lemau, settling back In hiss easy
IeaistT chsir. aud gazing with bali closed
EYES across the dlmphng waters OF the bay,)
marked the beginning OF the most violent
commercial excitement that this country,
up 90 that time, had known. Early In JAN
uary the UnitedStates Petroleum Company.
which was organized in the spring OF 1861
ly y Nelson Tapran. 81 New York city;
FREDERICK W. Jones, James Faulkner. and
I. ". Frazier. drilled an oil-well on the
THONGS IIOlmdcn fnrm, in CorDplanter
township. NenauCO county. Pcnnsyl-
yania. A flow 81 oil exceeding 2j0 bar
rcls pcr day was found. aud this subSe- |
qucntly increased 10 more than 900 barrels.
Tits caused great surprise. as several i'm.
Perfect tests OF the region had been made
some time before. Mr.. Tappan and Mr.. |
fraTiT. IN whose honor the first well was
named, were confident that oil in paying
quartlies could be found In a fourth sand,
wbi,h; mp 10 that time, was thought |
did not exist. Leases Of land were |
purch ssed upon the Thomas Holm |
den. lhe Walter HOlmden. the Black |
mer. She Luther Woods. the Mckin. |
ney, ihh HawoTb. the Van Wycl, the Tyr |
Icll. and The Heckcrt farms. With The |
exception Of few cleared fields this terri
tory Nss almost unbrokcn forest. Pitholc
croel, 4 rocky, preCpitous stream, ran
through, the centre Of the purchases. New
wells igVre al once started along the valley |
Of the creek and upon the fiat pJrii N
Of Tho Thomas Holmden farm. The |
ccmmnyis Office was at Plumer.
baf-dty's hard riding distant. aud |
for several weeks the officers and employees
were compelled u sleep In q rude cabin |
in the forest and carry their provisions
from OIL City and Titusvilc. Encouraged |
by The success Of the Frazer well, Samuel
Englc, Of New York city; George b. sat
tcrlee, John &. Williams, II. Tracy Arnold.
Dr. J. Wright. and Emanuel Weiss formed |
the Pitbole-C Creek Petroleum Company. and
began operations OH the j. Blank farm,
which 10y on both sides OF Pithole creek;
the {. NJ. Ball farm, part OF the Rocker
fam, and the Copeland reserve.
Early in June word went out 10 oil City,
Titusyillc, and the surrounding country,
that If the wells then approaching compile.
ton produced oil the whole Of Cornplanter
township would prove paying territory.
On the Sd day OF June the Homestead well.
No. ], which was drilled on the Homestead
farm by James NJ. stone, Of Charlestown,
Mass; JOHN 4. IiIgginson, Of Boston, and
other eastern ca! iiali.is, began TO produce
oil in large quantities. Spectators waited
in almost hreathless suspense. Two weeks
later. on the Thomas lIolmdcn farm. well
No. confirmed Mr. Tappan's predictions,
and began flowing at tremendous rate.
On the 18th Of June, three days aiterward.
well No. threw oil over the top oi the der
rick.
Thon tie rush began. The war Of the
rebellion WAS over, and thousands OF men.
eager for excitement and with plenty OF
money, charged down upon the quiet
Pithole Valley with resistlcss fore. The
neighboriug oil towns left their work aud
ran too. RE place was a wilderness; lum-
Der there was none. and money could not
buy shelter anywhere. Only three build !
ings stood In the yicinity-the Widow
Lyons's LOG cabin. small frime build
ing occupied by the Thomas II0lmden
family. and an uuprctcn.ious structure on
the Walter Holmden farm. But men who
had slept on hard-fought battlcfields,
camped out under the health-giying pine
trees. and were content TO cook their rude
meats over a blaze OF pIne-knots and never
thought Of hardship. Their greatest and
perhaps only trouble was the scarcity OF I
lumber with which to build oll-derricks,
and the difficulty Of hauling steam. boilers.
!
mountain roads tom Titusyille aud the
Miller farm.
The first day Of July saw q narrow street
laid out on the Thomas Holmden farm. and
afew scattered yellow pine buildings sprang
up along both sides Of the way. The first
OF these buildings bore the word Saloon"
above It's rough implanted door; the next
was advertised by cloth sign, saloon
Rnd Restaurant" and the third, not being
IN possession OF muslin or paint-brush,
went Into business with a wbiskey-barrel
placed conspiouousy beside the entrance.
The streets were full Of stumps and stones
and logs, but was regarded rs a
fiist-class roadway. IL teImster found
fault with the new iIomden street
lac could drive his team through the
woods and so pick n wagon trail to suit
himself. The path 10 the first three build
ings on the street was plain enough, aud
ev,rytody seemed satisfied. As well after ,
yell Logan TO pour its food OF oil into the /,
&c .Ssyal production the excitement became :
1m,Sus. Men from all parts Of the world
adyentu, It's, SPECTATORS. capitalists from ,
Wall street, mn, ers from the Rocky Noun \
fains, oil.produeer., workmeD, soldiers. /
sailors, n'groes. and i.Seians jostled |
and ,bowed one another In G mad {
search ioy wealth. Merchants went =
into business under awnings, hotel :
keepers served meals in the open air q
and rented hunks in buildings containing !
little more than floors and one or two sides. i
an enierprising real estate agent hoisted a a
sign, "Oil Leases Bough, and Sold Here" {
and In the intervals OF business built his .
Office IN against the sign. The first bar
hers shop was In an army tent, and me ,
fret gambling den was In dry-ccoods box !
on iioimden street. The bc.x cost the faro
dealer siO in gold, n laundry, however,
WIS rot cstab ,ished Tor several weeks.
Nothing In all America has been Just like
Piihole. For five months twas fierce, law
less, ungovernable. The energy that In
ak weeks planted In the wilderness city
Of 1900 or 10000 inhabitants brooked no
restraint. Crime was committed. Men
were knocked down. beaten. and robbed In
the streets; shooting and stabbing ARRAYS
were Of nightly occurrence, and Sunday
was set apart for prize-hghts on the
bluff above the town. Self-sppointed
vigilance committees made pre,cuce
Of dealing out justice single handed.
but II il an open question whether these
rangers were better or wore than the
roughs. The town grew 10 It's full size In
ak weeks, but the process OF rehabilitation
took ak months. The post-oilce, which
| was established July 27th by Captain S. :.
pin. was robbed twice TO inaugnrate the