, 1901-12-28
DISCOURSE BY HON. A. w.. PHIL
LIPS AT INDUSTRIAL CON-
VENTION.
History c: One Of the Younger Fields in
Point Of Discovery and Develop
Incentive Wells Drilled and Oil
and Gas Encountered In All OF
Them-European Capitalists Ac-
quainted With Wyoming.

of Wyoming has been so ably handled
by Prof. Knight, DR.. Salathe and Mr..
Richardson that it seems superfluous
on my part to say anything more in
regard to them, but | have been re-
quested to say a few words as a practi-
cal operator relating especially to the
developments now under way in the
Douglas field, situated in the county
of Converse.
This is n of the younger oil fields
in the state in point Of discovery and
development, and its exploitation is
yet in its infancy, but the amount of
development performed up to the pres
ent time has demonstrated beyond
question that oil may be found in pay
ing quantities over a considerable
area of the valley of the North Platte
river in our county. A few years ago
there was hardly any thought of oil be-
ing found in Converse county in the
vicinity of Douglas. and attention was
drawn to its existence, singularly
enough by the construction of works
designed for the irrigation of land. In
the fall of 1895 Mr.. Henry l.. Brenning,
while driving a tunnel through the
crest of a hill on his ranch, situated
twelve miles west of Douglas. which
he intended to use to conduct water
to his ranch, penetrated the Dakotah
sandstone for over $50 feet, and found
it saturated with oil. He suspended
further operations, and in association
with other parties, amongst them my
self, located a number of claims in the
vicinity as oil placer mining land. An
arrangement was made with the Wyo-
ming Valley Oil company Of Wilkes
barre, Pennsylvania, to develop these
lands, under which contract a Star
drilling rig was placed upon the prop
erty and operations have continued for
several years under the management
Of Mr.. Erastus Straup of Wilkesbarre,
the firm name having now been chang
ed to Erastus Straup & Co.
Many difficulties have been encoun-
tered, and Mr.. Straup had the misfor-
tun to lose his entire rig by fire. How
ever, he promptly placed a larger and
better rig on the ground and has been
actively at work during the year past.
Five wells have been drilled, and l
am informed that in all of them oil and
gas has been encountered. The deep
est we'll was drilled to a depth of 1874
feet, at which depth the tools were I'M
fortunately lost, and could not be re-
covered, and the well was abandoned.
In this well gas and oil we're found
at a depth of from 400 to 500 feet, in
a.sand of the Benton formations. The
well was drilled through this sand and
had been SUM to 81 the cap rock
OF the Dakota sand, when the &C.
cident happened which necessitated
the abandonment of the work. At this
depth the Indications were good for a
large producer. From this well gas
flows freely and will throw a fame high
in the air when ignited. There is no
doubt about the value Of these lands
for oil, and with sufficient capital Mr..
Straup will no doubt reap a great re-
ward for his persistent work as an oil
pioneer of Converse county. Other
companies now at work or about to
commence are the Superior Oil com
pany, backed by Binghamton, New
York, capital; the LaBonte Oil syndi-
cate and the Western Oil company,
backed by London capital, and the Con-
solidated Oil company, backed by New
York City capital. These companies
all have f1rst-class new standard rigs
on the ground, the best hat money can
buy, and will make a thorough test
of all lands lying in the Douglas field.
The Superior OIL company is now drill
ing a deep well three miles to the
northeast of the town of Douglas. The
LaBonte Oil syndicate Is drilling eight
miles south of the town. The Western
Oil company has its machinery on the
ground and Is building a derrick three
miles west of the town, and the Con-
solidated Oil and Development com
pany has it's machinery OF the ground
and is now starting to drill a few miles
northwest of Douglas. 1t will thus be
seen that the county seat of Converse
county is surrounded by a series of
drilling rigs, and from my point of
view an investment in Douglas real
estate at this time Is not a wild specu-
lation. The principal producing sand
in the Douglas field will probably prove
to be the Dakotah, which crops out for
over 25 miles along the western and
southern edges of the Platte valley.
No drill has as yet penetrated 1t, but
the thickness Of the sand, from $50 to
300 feet, its porous nature, the amount
Of oil appearing in the outcrops, seem
to point to the fact that we shall find
in that sand al inexhaustible store Of
petroleum of excellent quality. Analy-
ses of the oil sand from the outcrop
made by Prof. Knight and Prof. Slosson,
show several grades of fine %lubricating
oils. while from a greater depth it is
probable that the oil will contain con-
siderable lighter properties.
There are four or five distinct oil
sands showing in the Douglas field, the
Dakotah being the thickest, but a few
hundred feet lower there is another
sand that may prove to be a producer
also. The dip of the strata running
from almost vertical to about a Z de-
gree pitch, seems to show that to reach
the sand at a reasonable depth the
wells should be placed within q com
paratively short distance Of the out
crop, and the two companies Of which
| am manager, the LaBonte Oil syndi-
cate and the Western Oil company, are
proceeding on this plan, and our wells
will not be more than two miles from
the outcrop. Other companies, howev-
er, are located sig and eight miles from
the outcrop, calculating that the strata
fiattens out; time and work will show
whether their plan Is correct. In our
drilling operations, however, we do not
find any f1attening OF the strata at a
distance of one and one-fourth miles
from the outcrop.
If this holds good. the available area
in the Douglas field will ultimately be
narrowed to a strip along the crop
pings Of perhaps three miles In width
at the most. There are over 200, 900
acres Of land now held in Converse
county as oil land. Much of this must
Of course prove unproductive, but in
ny opinion there will be SUFFICIENT
proven oil territory inside Of . few
'ears to make Douglas and Converse