River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1905-02-16
HOW OIL WELLS ARE PLACED
Bores Are Sunk Mainly by Guess, But
the "Witch" and His Rod
Figure.


Sand how 90 you strike Oil in wild
country?" was asked a driller, a promo
ter and the witch" Each answered
after his profession and his kind, and
each believes himself infallible. It is
comparatively easy, says writer in the
Kansas City Star, in well-deyeloped ter
ritOry, with producing wells on all sides,
to pitch the site for a. derrick almost
anywhere and get the oil. But in re-
mote districts, where the drill has never
made hole and where the derricks are
not in sight, it is another story.
well" said the drlller man, after a
pause, 1T is like this: You don't know
thing about it, and the more you look
at the land and the more you think about
it the more mud0led you probably will
become. Some rather take their chance
on hillside and others in the valleys.
Some follow so-called surface indica-
tiOnS and others follow the advice Of
the witch. 1t is all a guess, however.
and When all is said and done, you prob
ably will find it one place as we'll as
another. | had a contract not so long
ago TO drill hole for fellow who want
ed it on ridge. He had picked out the
exact spot and marked it off, so that
all | had to Go was to put up a rig and
begin.
I'VE started for the place on a wagon,
but in the river bottom the wagon got
stuck in the mud. We fused around
for awhile, and then saw we were in fo'
it. My man got tired and finally said
he believed he would locate the we'll
as close to the place where We got stuck
as possible. We did it, and got good
oil well. After we got the well in the
river bottom We moved up on the hill
side to the spot he had first picked out
and We got dry hole.
Il knew another fellow who went to
a wild country. When he came to pick
out site for the first well he shut his
eyes, whirled around two or three times
and threw a rock as far as he could.
Where the rock fell was the site of the
well. He got oil. There was still an
other fellow who used to tell us to drill
any old place and he sometimes found
experience. Every man to his notiO4t."
Il try" said the promoter, appearing
as dignified and wise as an owl, first
to find out the nearest we'll and then
the direction the pool seems to take.
Then | take a ruler and measure off the
line OF the trend and place my derricks
somewhere along that line. But if /
q
nearest production, it would be all
subject Of guesswork. Especially is that
true of the Kansas field, where the trends
are contrariWise and sometimes cross
each other. In case Of doubt should
let the driller pick the spot and abide the
result. Even the first hole is no indi-
cation of the value of a lease. / have
on lease in this field and every one OF
them dry, when some tenderfOot would
come along and get good oil wells on
that same lease. l have in mind the
case Of firm that drilled some holes
around here IL years ago and reported
that the district was dry, when, within
stones throw of these dry holes, are
district.
Il remember also a case at Richburg,
N. Y. The men drilled 13 holes, an I'M
lucky number, and did not get OIL Aft
er that came man who got oil in every
one Of the Is holes he drilled. If the
original promoters mad surveyed the
ground they could not have gone around
oil op~Ix,
closely as they did by accident. You
have to take your chances, and that is
what | am doing"
ut is easy said the witch. "All l
have to do is to take out my divining rod
and so out into territory to be developed
and put it on the ground. If there is oil
there the instrument will show it at
once. You cannot fail if you have the
proper kind of an instrument The trou-
bic with these people is that they are
not sufficiently posted in metallurgy to
know that you can discover the presence
Of mineral in the ground by the sim
pie device of a diyining rod. But you
can do it all the same. | have located
dozens of wells in this district, and
never failed yet. And in other districts
where no wells have been drilled l have
located good oil wells which eventually
made money for their owners. With the
rest Of the fellows it is guesswork, but
with me it is 'cinch.'"
And if it is a 'cinch with you, why
don't you get rich out of it, instead Of
making the other fellows rich?" the
witch was asked, But he looked out
over the tops of the buildings at this
and said he had an engagement with
promoter down the street.