The Kalispell bee. [volume] (Kalispell, Mont.) 1900-192?, 1901-10-09


face indications there are better than
on this side, the seepage around koo-
tenai lake, in Canada, covering about
an acre.
'Seepage, however, does not indi-
cate the existence of any consider
able quantity of oil beneath. The
professional oil well driller VINO is at
kintla lake told me he had never be-
fore seen a seeepage; he said he sup
posed there must have been one orig
inally in every field, but it's location
never governed the drilling; the
place for sinking a we'll being deter
mined by the Typography and contour
of the country and geological contact
The men interested in the district
are largely residents of Butte and
they are furnishing the capital nee
essary for the first prospecting, but
California capital has also been inter-
ested. The Butte men have butt the
wagon road and hauling machinery
to the point of seepage, anl drilling
Will be commenced there in about
SIX Weeks-sO soon as the staging
can be completed. A sawmill is now
being placed and will cut the timber
necessary for the construction of the
staging to support the drill. This
staging must be set absolutely true,
so that when the drill is brought up
for any purpose it will not deviate a
hairs breadth from the true course,
and it will be erected by an expert
a professional 'stager' The drill is
mighty piece Of machinery. One
comparatively small portion of it
weighs LOO pounds, another piece
weighs 900 pounds, and the weight
OF the whole runs away up into tons
All the machinery has been hauled
in over the newly made road, but the
Calllornla men will not take their
machinery in until It. can go over the
snow. The drill will be 10 inches in
diameter at lne start and will be
gradually reduced to six inches.
Inc company is preparing to drill
to depth Of $500 feet, but may find
it necessary to go deeper. The alti-
tude of the point of seepage is 3,70O
feet, it being in a low basin among
mountains; about mile away there
are claims located that are 1000 or
800 feet higher. and the mountains
near rise rapidly to an altitude of
5000 or 5000 feet. The professional
driller who will do the work in the
kintla fields told me that he deepest
well ever bored is in Virginia and
goes down 5000 feet.
He has no doubt of the value of
the fields, and says all that remains
is TO srike the OF. in sufficient guam
tity. That may be done with the first
well, or it may be necessary to go down
al ,1,nr tN ,%,,s1y
'gusher' he said, but it is not neces-
sary, for the oil may be pumped. 1t
is pumped now a distance of 800
miles, from Pennsylvania to Brook
lyn, and may be pumped over the
Rocky mountains, if necessary, to
the railroad
The drilling will not take long, un-
less many round powders should be
encountered. AS the drller express
ed it. it is difficult to get fair smash
at them and to strike them greatly
delays work; but if they are not en-
countered rapid progress will be
made and it will not be long until
those interested will know just what
they have. The drilling will be an in
teresting process and | intend to visit
the fields after it shall have been
started, although l must make the
trip on snowshoes. So perfect is the
apparatus, that any break, bend or
other fault in the drill may be rem
edied in a short time by the driller
on the surface; work underground is
no more d.--cult for him than work
on the surface for other mechanics.
He drills where he is told to do So;
c
are certain.
THE drill does not go to the oil
The driller can tell by the materia'
brought up-callei oil sandwich he
is near the oil. ana then the drill is
withdrawn and a very large quanti
~ of nitro-glycerine is exploded in
the well. breaking up all the forma.
ton below, and the oil is reached and
may come gushing out or it may have
to be pumped.
"A peculiar thing about the seep
age is that it is always found above
the lake of oil. 1t is not a gravity
seepage. but it is oil that is forced
out by gases rising from the bed OF
oil. The odor of petroleum may be no
ticed at Kintla lake when one is 100
yards or more from the seepage, the
gas rising freely from it.
while | was at kintla lake a mum
ber of men, representing the owners
of the oil claims in Canada, started
north with pack horses, and I was
told they intendede to continue the
wagon road north from Kintla lake
their claims being inaccessible from
the Canadian side; but whether OF
not this is true l cannot say.
Il brought two bottles of the oil
back with me. and it is certainly a
valuable product of a high degree OF
lubricating power"
Mr.. Kelley has some claims IN the
region. not far from the seepage, and
other Great Falls men are also inter
ested to some extent in the fields.