The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1901-06-28
OIL FIELDS IN KANSAS.
Fields Of Gold, OIL and Gas Abound Oh
Every Side, So it Is BeIisvsd-Kan-
sas May BE State Of Vast Wealth.


Whether the Kansas shales will ever
yield gold is question. 1t is far more
probable that they will yield oil. There
is shale in the southeast part Of Sher-
man county and in several localities in
Cheyenne county, but especially ia the
ridge between the north and south
forks Of the Republican river.
The following from the Topeka Mail
and. Breeze on the subject is of inter
est IN this connection:
Representatives of the Standard Oil
company have recently purchased 49,
300 acres of land in the northwest
Kansas oil field and are negotiating
for more. One of the representatives
of this company came direct to the
Kansas field from Beaumont, Tex, to
purchase land. There is another com
pany in the field 1t is the Wscondo
Oil and Mining company, Of Topeka,
which has leased several thousand
acres of land in Ellis, Cove, Mitchell
and Logan counties and will begin
drilling for oil as soon as machinery
can be obtained. The members of the
company say that oil in small quanti-
ties has been struck in several places
in those counties and that along the
Saline and Smoky Hill rivers the oil
seeps out of banks in a number of
places.
81. B. Eldridge, of Topeka, land agent
for the Union Pacific Railway com
pany, has spent a great deal of time
travelling over this field and he says
that he expects Kansas to be one of
the richest oil states in the country
when this field is developed Mr.. Ed
ridge says that in every county in the
northern part of the state in which
shale is found there are indications of
oil. He said: 4 have recently sold
over 5000 acres of oil land in Cove and
Logan counties to an official Of the
Standard Oil company. Whether he is
buying for the Standard Oil company
or for himself 1 am unable TO say, but
do know that he has recently made
thorough examination of the Smoky
valley oil district and at my Office in
Topeka closed a deal for a large tract.
He will return and have no doubt will
buy more land. He told me there was
no doubt in his mind that northwest
Kansas would become one of the great
est oil fields of the country"
The SaIina Union has the following:
"Mr. Eldridge refers to John NJ
March, a resident of LeaYenworth, and
formerly a banker in WaKeeney, for
confirmation of the story that the shale
in Trego county once caught fire and
burned tor more than a year. Mr..
EIdridge has great faith in the future
Of the Kansas oil field and be explains
the finding Of oil in the Smoky Hill
valley on the ground that oil flows in
subterranean rivers. This is held by
many of the experts employed by the
Standard Oil company and Is TespOn-
sible for many of the company's big
gest strikes. Mr.. Eldridge says that a
straight line drawn from the oil fields
near Los Angeles, Cal, to the oil fields
in Pennsylvania would pass through
Florence, Col, where oil was recently
found; through the Smoky Hill valley,
through the Missouri oil field and the
oil and gas fields of Indiana. He be-
Heves that Kansas is over river Of oil
and that drilling for it viii develop the
richest product of the state"
The Topeka Daily Herald.