Evening star., 1897-02-20

due in Part to the report spread over the
regions that Drake was crazy in believing
that oil would he found by drilling into the
rock. But his faith on this point was un-
shaken. after his study of the salt wells
ard other Investigations. Ridicuie. coupled
with imputations of insanity, only served
to intensity his determination to demon
stra:e that the theory was correct Dur
irg that summer and the succeeding fall
winter and spring his experience was like
that of many another experience before and
since of moreyless custodians of an idea
derided at the time, but destined subse-
quently TO become famous.
Oil nt Last.
1t was not until the middle of June. 1859.
that Re was bic to proceed with the we'll
He was enabled to do so then. not through
any aid rendered by the company. but
through the sympathetic personal assist
ance of r. D. Fletcher and Peter Wilson
of Titusville who provided him with local
credit and indorsed at a Meadville bank
(about thirty miles from Titusville) the
paper on which he raised the necessary
funds to go ahead with the well. Uncle
Billy Smith ard his two sons, driilers
from the Tarcntun salt well regions, came
on TO take charge of that part of the work
which was done at that time by old spring
pole process On Saturday. August u, 1859.
the drill at the shallow depth of 6912 feet
about % feet in the rock. dropped into a
crevice as the days work was being finish
ed, and the tools We're pulled out until
Monday morning. The following day. Sun
day, the senior driller. 'Uncle Billy" took
stroll down to the well and saw wnat
seemed to be oil within few feet of the
tcp. He dipped an improvised bailer into
the Well and it came up filled with petro-
leum- Thus vas the first oil we'll conceived
ard completed AS has been indicated, il
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
Tune of business. in interest and in pop
ulation, was in the six years following Col
brakes strike The climax of that period
found fully 100000 people in the regions
which had been practically wilderness
but few years before: and in this estimate
no account is taken of the tender transients
whose courage failed them after they had
foJld their way into the regions by
wagon. by raft. en- horseback and on foot
ard who waded out as soon as they could
bearing with them nightmare recollections
of canals of mud called roads: of fioun-
dering mules, horses and drivers. of So
called hotels and boarding houses where
entrance to the dining rooms at meal time
was frequently by the flying wedge process
used by the foot bail players: where the
floors as well as the beds of the sleeping
rooms were crowded with tired humanity
and where the cracks in the drying gre en-
lumber of the walls were often so large
that the inquisitive red squirrel had little
gnawins to do in order to effect an en-
trance.
General Confidence.
The three chief characteristics of the
multitude of people thus drawn together
were their general good nature, their quick
ness to respond to calls of distress and
their commercial honor. Deals involving