The daily sentinel., 1901-11-15
SOME OILY FACTS.
Sentine's Fruita Correspondent
Gives Some Excellent lnfor-
nation. Big Future for
Oil Exploration.
70 Editor of TIL. Sentinel:

beu0VlD8 tn6 puDle Will Oo lnIofoetou
In . more extended account Of the do
velopment Of the oil fields in our vicinity
than has as yet appeared in tho press OF
the county, submit few itsmB which
may be Of interest to the public.
Not since tho advent OF the railways
into tho Indian reservation, then known
as the Gunnison country, has any single
enterprise been undertaken which por.
tends more for the western part Of the
state than the present development Of
the oil fields in this vicinity. For the
past year numerous parties OF prospect
ore, surveyors and experts have thor
oughly prospected the oil belt in Mesa,
Garfield and Rio Blanco counties where
they have located thousands Of acres Of
land which undoubtedly contains as val
liable oil deposits as those OF the eastern
states which have added millions Of dol
lars to the wealth of the country.
Ever since tho settlement OF Western
Colorado q number OF parties have
known Of the existence OF oil springs
near the state line, but pone seem 70
have realized the fortunes which might
DO theirs by taking tho necessary steps
to obtain title to the ground, which lit
orally bubbled with oil and provided the
ranch and cattlemen an excellent and
inexpensive lubricant for their wagons
and farm machinery. Finally, someone
stumbled onto tho ground. who knew
the value OF such surface Indications
and promptly made his locations and
reported his great find to the world with
the result that the county was soon over
run with parties anxious to secure .
share of the hidden fortunes which, no
doubt. await the proper development
of these virgin fields OF mineral oil.
The Colorado & Utah oil company
have recently let - contract to Kerr,
Closer & Van Cleve. Of Lima, Ohio, to
sink we'll oa their properties sixty
miles north. west of Fruita, on what is
known a. Whiskey creek. dry gulch on
the White river slope, which, until re-
Gently was only known among tho COW
boys who named it In honor OF = festive
occasion which occurred In that arid re-
gion some years ago.
Those Ohio men are credited with be-
inc experts in their lines Of business,
Mr.. r. D. Closer, who IL on tho ground
giving his personal attention to the
transporting and erecting Of the ma
chinery, says be has never seen such IA
| yorable indications for oil in any field
and he confidently expects to strike .
gushsr which will throw the Beaumont
gushers in the shade. l..-
Three carloads OF machinery are now
being transported from Iona, on tho
Rio Grande Western, to the companys
property. This alone is an undeEtak-
| ing of no small magnitude, there being
foyer twenty five men and teams employ
cd AZ an expense OF over 500 day. A
large force of men il also engaged In ad-
vance Of the teams, to build roads and
bridges. The heavy oak timbers for the
frame work for the machinery are the
largest ever brought into this country.
The wagon road to the sight Of the pro-
| pO06Q WeiI, iOE uUOut Aah sAO oinsenSoi
is over an alkali desert with no wateR fit
for man OF beast,
The we'll will be started with . ten
inch bore, but will be cut down to 81
inches II necessary, and sunk to depth
Of 1900 feet il oil in quantity 10 not on
oountersd before that depth 10 reached.
Mr. Closer, however, thinks it will not
be necessary to 60 over 1000 feet deep
before great body Of oil is found.
The drilling OF this well on Whiskey
creek il only ono of the many in con-
temptation by the same company, as
they have locations in about every sec
tion OF western Colorado and eastern
Utah.
Should q sufficient quantity d oil bs
found in the we'll about TO b. oommenc-
ed, . pipe line will b laid to the nearest
point ON the Rio Grande Western and
tho product, which 10 high-erade lub-
ricating oil. placed upon the market.
A. ]. Peck.