The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-01-26
special to The MINNEAPOLIS Journal.

Special to The Minneapolis Journal
Butte, Mont. Dec. 13.-That there were
oil indications in Canada. just across the
line from the Kintla lake district was
known to men in Flathead county fully
twenty years ago, but the discoveries
were not exploited until some years later.
IN 1886 Fred Bowman exhibited In Mis-
soula bottle of crude petroleum he had
SkImmed from spring on the Canadian
SIde or the line near Tobacco plains.
The sample was good enough to excite d
lively interest even them but l. was not
until six years later that oil indications
were discovered in the extreme northern
In that year John c. Leonard and w. A.
Leonard. of Tobacco plains: Michel Their
rlault and w. r. Ramsdell. of Kalispeli,
j.. A: Talbot of Columbia Falls. Shipley
OF MlsSoula and some few others pros
pected the oil fields and made the discov-
cry that the indications on the American
side of the line were even better than
those on the Canadian side. where the
nrst discoveries had been made.
The result was that the records of
Nlssoula county were burdened almost as
heavily as the Flathead county records
are today with placer locations for the
appropriation of oil land. Most of these
Locations weres held for two years with
out the usual representation work. under
the provisions Of the act of congress of
mat year exempting miners from the
ourden or representing their claims dur
Ing the panic years of 1894. The follow
ing year the land cove ed by these loca-
tions was selected by ne state as a part
Of it's federal land e, ant. and this fact.
together with the inability to interest
the abandonment Of all the claims locat-
ed the previous years. A year or two
later the state coded the land back to
the general government and it now forms
part OF the Flathead forest reservation.
lutte Men Take Hold.
The fields began to attract attention
again about year ago, when ]. o. Rem
ger and Fred Whiteside located several
claims adjoining Kintla lake. for Butte
men. The reported intentions of the
Butte company aroused anew the interest
OF tEose who had abandoned their previ-
= Gus claims and for the past nine months
orally flooded with placer locations in the
OIL fields. During that period 1880 loca-
ions, representing 100000 acres have bee-l
MED in the county recorders Office, AID
there are vet many claims to be record
ed upon which the location work has
Slot yet neen perfected. The recording
Iees Tor these claims for the wear SO far
have reached the SUM- of $500. enough
and recorder.
Practically every foot Of the country
along the north fork of the Flathead riv-
or from the International boundary to the
TaIlroad-a distance of about twenty
m1les-has been located. Scores of men
nave gone into the North Fork country
and located thousands of acres of land
and sold their rights to spectators. but
retaining IN every instance an interest in
be bought as low as IS each but now
they sell at from $25 to 500 each and
there are few to be had at those figures.
the theory is that If there is oil at
I<Intla lake; the field extends the full
length OF the valley of the North Fork
ana tEat the theory is plausible is shown
BY the fact that there are positive oil
indications In the valley Of the Flat
head clear to Montford, seven miles "a ST
Of Kalispell. Indeed. it is not at all IN
likely that at least one of the numerous
companies now organizing for oil pros
pecting will commence operations in the
Montford district
Experts Give a Favorable Verdict.
The Kintla oil fields have been "ex-
perted' by men who have had Years Of
experience in the oil fields of Pennsyl-
Vania and Ohio, and there has been only
one verdict-tEat the indicat ions are of
the most promising character. 1t is the
quality OF the Kintla oil which has ap-
p peaaesd pa particularly to these experts,
gon, j. H. Clayton of the Standard oil
company, and p. W. Francis of CaIifor-
ma, geolcgist of recognized standing
Mr.. Francis has been in the Kintla dis
making arrangements to take boring ma
ch1nery into the fields in the interests of
the company he represents
Analysis of the crude product gathered
from the natural seepage has shown that
the Mntla oil has the paraffine base.
els recently the Kintla fields would
not be worth exploiting Oh with
the asphaltum base - the nrod1c+
OF the Texas and California fields - Mon
tana has several asphaltum oil fields
with every surface indication of great
quantities Of petroleum in the anticiines
that would be more productive than an1