The Meeker herald., 1897-12-25
where the llillioas caaae Frssii

Where the lIillfons Came FfssI.
A recent number OF the PittsA0s9
Dispatch contained "reminiscences ~
the oil wells. and among other opsrato1I
who came to the front during tl,0ss -
citing times was ono John NcKsowns
Now. to explain the reproduction Of ~
following extract, THE HERALD woal1
state that some Of the children spoke1l
Of therein were not stsngers to this sees
ton. The careers Of both william aad
Byron McKeown during their stay u
and about Meeker are we'll known 70
pearly all of our readers In this and Id
Routt county. In particular the escar
pedes Of the erratic Billy (who was .
|step-son OF ths millionaire. and WHO'S
right name is said to be King) were
known to many from the Rockies 70 the
Alleghenies. The boys left here soms
three years ago, and doubtless are back
in Little Washington tPa.) enjoying tho
dead mans millions. Following is the
extract which will interest their ac.
quaintances:
"The rise Of John McKeown, whose
eccentricities as much as his great
wealth helped to make him famous. will
fairly illustrate the results attained BY
many who grasped the wonderful oppor-
tunities afforded by the sudden awaken
ing to the value Of petroleum. ~,
"In 1885. fresh from bonnie Scotland,
he secured employment at PetreleaM
Center. He picked and shoveled, drove
teams, dressed tools, pulled tubing and
turned his hand to anything which
Welded . return in hard cash. Steady
and sober, although not q teetotalsr, he
resisted the fascinations upon which
other men similarly employed lavishei
their money. In three years he had
saved a tidy sum, but better than this,
he had acquired thorough and practi .
cal knowledge of the oil business.
Early In the seventies he went to Par.
ker, In the northern end Of Armstrong;
county, where be made his nrst ventusG
This undertaking being succsssfnL q
embarkediu others. Not the least r.
Dastant SAa sfAak u matrineny.
married hts boarding mistress, Who wse
. widow with two children. He joined
the movement to Butler county, where
bis wife's small capital aided him in his
operations, which were uniformly sue
cessful. His first big strike was q we'll
which yielded $50 barrels day for over
q year. AT the prices petroleum brought
in those days this success put him on
Ills feet and marked him as coming
man. He was ambitious to become the
biggest oil producer In the world. All
else was subordinated to this ambition.
He esuperintendedp personally the drilling
Of all bis wells, bought all the materials
and exposed himself In all kinds Of
weather. Selling out all his Butler
county properties at high figures lie be-
gan operating in Washington county.
Here he bought thousand acres Of
land, and when the excitement was at
its height he realized his ambition. The
total production of his wells at this time
reached 10000 barrels per day.
''McKeown's eccentricities were the
talk and admiration Of the public. He
affected slouch hat and rough garb.
and prided himself on being democratic
in speech and habits. On one occasion
when some valuable property was ad-
vertised for sale at Bait more he went
tothat city. depositet : million dollars
in bank. and appeared at the sale in
slouoh' hat and big boots, looking more
like I teamster than . millionaire.
He bid on the property, and every time
he winked the price went up $4,000.
Other bidders asked him II he was not
going beyond his limit and he referred
them 70 the bank In which he had de-
posted his million. A telephone In
quiry brought the reply: "McKeown is
good for . million" The objectors re-
tired and NcKeown bought the property
for $eoo.O0o
In 1901 disease brought on by expos
nra r,aan1fa6 }vn h{~ N>s<h u;. -aotth