The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-02-21

I and Peter Wilson of Titusville, who pro-
vided him with local credit and Endorsed
at a Meadville bank about 90 miles from
Titusvile) the paper on which he raised
the necessary funds TO go ahead with the
well. Uncle Billy Smith and his two
sons, drillers from the Tarentum salt
well regions. came on to take charge of
that part of the work. which was done
at that time by old spring-poie process
On Saturday, August y, 1893, the drill at
the shallow depth of 6915 feet, about 30
feet in the rock, dropped into crevice
as the days work was being finished
and the tools were pulled out until Mon
day morning. The following day Sunday.
the senior driller. Uncle Billy, took a
stroll down to the well and saw what
seemed to be oil within a few feet of the
top. He dipped an imprOvised bailer into
the well and it came up filled with pc
troleum. Thus was the first oil well con-
ceived and completed. As has been in
dictated. it was not the first artesian well
in which oil was found, but it was the
first well sunk for oil.
BOOM DAYS.
The period in which the high tide mark
was reached in the regions, in the vol
ume of business. in interest and in popu-
iation, was in the six years following
Colonel brakes Strike The climax of
that period found fully 100000 people in
the regions which had been practically a
wilderness but a few years before: and
IN this estimate no account is taken of
the tender transients whose courage
failed them after they had found their
way into the regions by wagon, by raft,
On horseback and on foot and who
waded out as soon as they could. bear
Ing with them nightmare recOllectiOns of
canals OF mud called roads; of founder
ing mules, horses and drivers; of So
called hotels and boarding houses where
time was frequently by the fiying-wedge
process used by the football players;
where the floors as well as the beds of
the sleeping rooms were crowded with
h uraTfr ~l,.,.1 -
n the drying green lumber of the walls
were often so large that the inquistiye
red squirrel had little gnawing TO do in
order to effect an entrance.
The three chief characteristics of the
multitude of people thus drawn together
We're their general good nature. their
(-ulckness to respond TO calls OF distress,
and their commercial honor. Deals in
volving amounts equal to fortunes were
carried out without the scratch of a pen.
Men who verbally agreed to sell the out
put of their wells for certain period at
a stipulated price faithfully kept their
promise, regardless of subsequent fiuctua-
tons in prices By way of illustration,
an incident may be recalled where pro-
Queer thus verbally agreed to sell his
oil for a period of several months at 20
cents a barrel. Though oil went up in
the meantime to 81 barrel, he delivered
the product of his wells, according to
promise, at the 20-cent rate. 1t was the
same in the purchase or rental of lands,
and in other transactions. People kept
their word There was a general sense of
safety. too, which seems remarkable
now, even to those who shared in that
feeling at the time. In the transaction
of business people carried large amounts
of money with them amid all kinds of
surroundings, and at all hours of. the
day and night. Banking agents supply
ing currency at this point and that rode
through the regions with their saddle
bags stuffed with money. Selling and pur-
chasing agents for other institutions
traVerSed the regions in this Way. carry
ing fortunes with them. They were well
known. and no concealment of their bust
ness was attempted.
Money was kept in all kinds of insecure
places and the contents of some common
Office safes ran into millions of dollars.
Yet with all the dissipation and wicked
ness developed. it was not until we'll to-
ward the close of the Six-year period in
dicated that the first murder for rob-
berry was known to have occurred in the
whole oil country.
Though the striking of the Drake well
caused feveriSh excitement at once, cauS-
ing an immediate influx of people to the
regions and sent skyWard the value of
lands along the creek, there was d bar
to the boom in the limited means for
storing and marketing the product.
Within three years the supply so much
exceeded the demand that the price
dropped from 80 cents gallon to 10 cents
a barrel. Among the large wells of this
period was the flowing fountain well.
struck in May, 1861, on the fats about
seven miles below the Drake well. It
was the first well drilled to the third
sand and the oil and gas poured out in
a manner which gave that sand an i'm
mediate popularity. Sept. 20. 1861 the
Empire we'll drilled near the Fountain,
began flowing at the rate of $500 barrels
q day.
Then came the Phillips well on the
Tarr farm. struck Nov. A. 1861. and
starting at the rate OF 5000 barrels a day