Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1902-04-19
MAKING A LIVE TOWN
RAPID GROWTH OF BARTLESvlLLE,
IT., IN A SHORT TIME.


Incorporated In 1874 II Is Now Fore
most In the RaWk of Territory
Towns-Due to the Energy and the
Capital of . Few Citizens.
Among the many towns Of the new
southwest which have sprung into life
like night born plants within the past
five years is Bartlesvilbe, l. T., says the
Kansas City Times. Though young
and laboring under some conditions be-
yond the power of the citizens to quite
remedy. which have hampered it to a
certain extent, 1t Is foremost In the
rank Of territory towns.
Peculiarly and bountifully favored by
nature and having for its bone and
sinew such men as build empires In the
rugged waste, Bartlesville Is destined
to ere long forge ahead and become one
of the great manufacturing and dis
tributing points of the southwest
1t is situated on the western bank Of
the Big Cancy river and Is 200 miles
south of Kansas city, In the new part
Of the Cherokee Nation. twenty miles
south of the Kansas line, and on the
Rartlesville branch of tine Atchison.
Topeka and Santa Fc railroad. 1t is
the only town in the Indian Territory
using natural gas for fuel and light. A
telephone system is now in course OF
construction and the municipality will
soon be provided with waterwOrks
The citizens Of the place ARE confident
Of its future and are proud Of the
start 1t has already made.
OF course men who have builded n
city are apt to Ovcrestimate its worth,
and such one might think Is the case
with Bartlcsville. But investigation
honestly and impartially made estab-
fishes as fact all Its citizens assert
Then one meets many commercial trav-
elers here in this awakening country.
No class of men know SO well indus
trial conditions as these busy fellows
who skip about from town to town
month in and out from year to year
They are physicians to the trade; their
hands are always Oh the pulse Of en-
terprise. Every iuctuation is noted
Every change in the patients condition
Is SET DOWN.
Travelling men say Of Bartlesville:
"It's live town. The man who gets
in on the ground floor there will make
money"
BartleSville was incorporated in 1894.
The original town contained but forty
acres. Under a recent government
survey it was enlarged to 800 acres.
The streets are all regularly laid out,
and the buildings are Of a superior ma
ture. The town is surrounded by the
richest agricultural region in the Iu-
dian Territory. 1t has primary and
high school and Baptist Methodist and
Christian churches. Above 300 pupils
are enrolled in the public school. and
all indications are, that the population
of 1,5OO will be doubled within the cur
rent year.
Natural gas was discovered about n
year ago, and now the Bartlesville Gas
and Oil company has mains on the
streets and pipes supplying almost ev-
cry house In the city. The supply Of
gas is inexhaustible In two of the
wells operated by the gas company the
pressure is $50 pounds. Gas is found
at depth of from 1000 to 1900 feet
and petroleum a hundred feet deeper.
There are seven oil wells with an out
put of 100 barrels daily now In opera
ton. These are owned by the Usage
Oil company of New York. There is,
unquestiOnably, plenty of oil beneath
the ground upon which Bartlesville
stands 1t has been struck while dig
ging wells at a depth of thirty-five and
forty feet.
The gas wells yield fuel sufficient to
run endless machinery, and the Big
Caney river Is an inexhaustible water
supply. There is an opening at present
for n brickyard. grain elevator and
flour mill Great deposits of shale lie
waiting the man who is wise enough
to put in brickmaking machinery and
use 1t. A market awaits him at his
door and beyond is a field Of untitled
orders and constant demand.
The farmers In the country outlying
are not those apathetic creatures who
lean on the fence and watch the weeds
strangle the crops. They work. And
with the rich soil to aid them good
crops are the rule. Within ninety days
this present season over 100000 bush
els of corn was shipped from Bartles-
Vile. These thrifty farmers buy their
farming implements and other supplies
In Bartlesville, and the trade of the
Usage reservation is fast coming that
way. The merchants who are now
there are kept busy, and not a day
passes that some enterprising trader
from some town or city to the north Is
not there looking for location. All
the buildings for business purposes are
now occupied. and new ones are giving
up. The singing of the carpenters saw
md the crack Of the hammer are heard
on every hand. There is not an Idle
man In town.
The town of Bartlesville owes it's
present thriving condition to few
men who have trusted their capital and
energies to its ultimate success as n
business center. These men are now
engaged in trade there and are reaping
the multiplied profit of their years Of
toll.
Towu Hnnuo Paluter