The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1890-04-02
EUREKA 0lL5FIHLD,.s
Ono Of the Greatest erritories
in the Country Developed.
THE RECENT OPERATIONS

Whic,, Have Verified tho Beliefs 0
rlucky rrospcctors Who Held on
Aftcr Others Lcit...lIIstory,o ,or
Fie'd..lYhcellns Interested. n
The Eureka field, 80 long cried dow1r
and hooted atby tho wise oil men OF tht
upper country" has al, last declared
itself, and is raining showers Of oil OF
tho heads Of its persevoring pioneers
and giving them cause to smile ,at the
unbelieving ones. Where but recently
few isolated dcrricks stood, now. a
mushroom city Of oil rigs has sprung up,
and 500 barrel wells are the order ol
the day. MI. ( h;Att9tiINh
This field may be- considered as
dating back to tho old Horseneck days,
and it is the result, in great measure, Of
the tcnacity OF one or two OF the old
IJor5eneck producers. Horseneck lies
three miles back OF tho Ohio river, and
seventy miles below Wheeling. Here,
in rough little valley, were put forth
the strokes that yielded we'll then and
arc giving promise Of yielding better
now. In 1868, after little "wildcat.
ting" the drill was started in the "Gil.
hllan," aud underneath iorty.loot
derrick II thousand barrel well was
struck at depth Of 24S feet. The ox.
element was intense. Oil men Aocked
in, and. shortly the little ravine was
dotted with derricks and greasy with
oil The success OF the operators was
phenomenal. One little farm sold fol a
hundred thousand dollars, and It's for
tunatc seller, Mr.. Henderson, still lives
near Marietta on tho product OF the
sale. Z, 81 II
FIVE YEARS LATER. ass tx III
For five years this pool, for it proved
10 be nothing more, continued to yield
good results. Then, like many other oil
fields, it died a lingering death, till, in
1870, there were left only few OF the
many operators. Among these men was
a certain Col. Asa Holt, who, notwith-
Standing .hat he had "gono broke" or
perhaps for that very reason, still cluue
with death grip to the field. y He drill
cd no wells, but in conjunction with Mr..
Benz. 7. Nye, OF Marietta, spent the
years trying to allure capitalists. Finally
he gave up, and went home to the East.
There he met an old friend, I. N. Boss.
Boss took fire at lIolt's glowing accounts,
aud, having himself participated in the
llorsencck operations in ga, determined
to try it again. Aided by his son, Geo.
". Boss, he incorporated company, of
e New York gentlemen, under the name
Of THE West Virginia Oil, Mining and
Manufacturing Company" with Henry
G. Comegys as President and James
kidder as Secretary and Treasurer. The
capital stock OF this company was S50, 900,
mud with the assurance that enough
would be paid up to keep things going,
I. N. Boss was started to West Virginia
to commence work. s.. 4, z J, ,it74psf
This was in 1883. d In July OF that
year was started the Robins Run well,
situated on Friend Cochran's farm, q
mile or so below Eureka, and rather
further back in the hills. The company
with the long name soon grew sick OF its
bargain, and after few small remit
tances, died natural death. az. ,i.
MR.. Boss' PLUCK. ftsiyt'St /
With small capital hehind him, Boss
continued drilling the Robins Run well,
while his son was engaged in New York
trying to interest some capitalist.
Meanwhile Boss busted himself taking
up property till the greater part Of
what is now known as the old Eureka
field was in his hands. In December,
for lack OF funds, the well stopped, ,fand
until May the tools lay. idle. AT this
time Frank NJ. Brown, q business man
oiNew York, was brought to the: scene
by G. W. Boss and by his own desire to
win q fortune, Brown started the Robins
Run well again, and gradually, in con-
nectlon with Boss, the son, gained pos
session OF tho greater portion OF the
leases held by Boss, the father. The
latter dropped out and the two former
went on with it. The Run well showed
up nicely at something over 1900 feet,
and shot was put in her. II was no
20, the well was a "duster." But one
thing was learned, and that was, that in
that region at q depth nearly the same
as the Macksbnrg sand there was nm oil
rock that ought to produce oil OF q
superior quality. So, following the old
iavorite S0o line, a location was made
aboIta mile N. E. OF the Robins Run
well, on the "Rus' Hammett farm
This Nell, watched with the greatest in.
terest by the farmers, and with apparent
carclessness by tho unbelieving alien
oil men, went down during 1856. The
shows allthrough the various shallow
sands were good, and the oil and gas thai
appeared ut 1880 feet were both ex.
prcted and welcomed. :, VS. y i
A SLIGHT SET BACK. M,
The news spread like wild fire. A 25(
barrel well, with plenty Of gas had been
struck ut Eureka! 80
But unfortunately the same day
the well was struck, a flow 10
eas stronger than usual ignited and the
rig burned, leaving the tools and somt
hundreds OF feet OF rope at the bottom
Of the hole, with the sand pump on tor
Of them. y:.---..--5i n 8S
The well was tho famous s'Burnt well,
the first good well ia the field, and The
assurance OF more to follow. More did
follow, and while she WAS doing her 20(
and more barrels day, other wells wert
located around her and other: r:striket
made. These new wells covered an are.
OF about thirty acres, were nine in num-
ber and averaged from ten to thirty bar
res apiece, nearly all Of them beint
owned by Brown, Boss and Higgins
Operations extended in every direction
ier the purpose OF ascertaining Wha
course the belt took. 4 4 NJ
BEGINNING or TIE DooN.5
In 1887, !. N. Barnsdall, a produce
from Alacksburg, bought an interes
with Brown, and Boss dropped out
Things were quiet for some time
Finally in lSSS the Big John vel, Of
the land OF John Hammett, hall mil
Cast nj the Rurp wall 31ron rom UlenCed