The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-11-10
MAKING AN OIL CITY
BY FREDERIC j. HASKIN
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.


Tulsa. Okla. Nov. s.-The year ls7
found Tulsa a small country town, with
muddy roads for streets and nothing %
recommend it 10 the world but the am
bition OF its people The year 1907 VIII
leave IL with streets OF asphalt, system
Of street railway. fe.000 or 1900 people,
and more ambition than ever From the
railroad station every morning Coal Oil
Johnny" snOrts an invitation 20 the pc
tr0leUm seekers, and hundreds Of men
respond 70 the call Their clothes are
dirty and their hats are spotted with
grease, but many OF them are worth
many thousands Of dollars. And many
OF Them are not worth cents. Some Of
the rich ones came here broke; some Of
the broke ones came here rich. But that
is story as old as mining
Coal OIL Johnny" is a railroad train.
and he is twins One of him is on the
Frisco and the other is on the Midland
Valley Railroad. These two early morn
ing trains carry host Of workers 70 the
rich Glenn Pool oil fields. They make
several trips a day and they are always
loaded Tulsa is eighteen miles north
Of the Glenn Pool Sapulpa, = town Of
several thousand people and big enough
for railroad shops, is onS four miles
north. But. nevertheless. The Coal on
Johnnies' tear on through Sapulpa and
make Tulsa the OF city And 80 It is
from other oil fields in the territory
There are other towns and good ones.
but Tulsa is the center OF the business
and from Tulsa reach out the wires that
control the petroleum business Of the
new State.
Here are the supply houses for the oil
men, here is the hotel al which the oil
men gather here are the offices OF the
pipe line companies. Here. TOO. was a
refinery. but il went the way OF many old
retneries and is no more. Tulsa feels
the need Of permanent investments in
manufacturing interests. and therefore
Is moving heaven and earth 10 persuade
rehneries 10 locate here. There Is some
the near future Brick making is now
the only important manufacturing inter
est here As clay = all abundant and
natural gas affords cheap fuel. this busl-
ness is prosperous.
But Tulsa + distinCtively an OF town.
II one were put down here in the night
he might imagine himself i'm Western
Pennsylvania NcWsb0ys on the streets
CRY Pittsburg papers. the oil City Der
rick is never absent from the news
stands and every other man one meets
is from the Keystone State But the st.
fusion Is gone when the eye lights upon
a Creek Indian with q feather IN his hat
4 blanket Indian is rarely seen on the
streets here, bat many Of those who have
adopted what we are pleased 10 call civil
lized dress still stick 10 their love q
ornamentation, and the Indian men still
pay visits % the miliiner- Tulsa has
four railroads. and is in the heart OF that
section OF the Indian Territory populated
by real Indians But 10y far the greater
number Of the Indians one meets are
more than half white. and many OF them
do not betray their red mans blood al an
in appearance
With the Indians and a few thousand
typical Westerners for a BACKGROUND.
Tulsa puts her best foot forward To take
care OF the oil interests. Big oil ma
chinery supply stores are scattered about.
the windows are gilded with the names
OF oil companies. and there are banks
and banks and banks. For while Tulsa
has only l2.oo0 people. more than 5000
coo is turned loose here every month.
That means business.
The hotels have sprung up Ike mush-
rooms. but the center OF activity gathers
about the largest Here the mfn who
own the oil I'm the Glenn Pool have their
abiding place. Here the poor drummers
beg piteously for rooms when there are
no rooms. Here the landlord. secure in
the sense OF a capacity business. turns a
deaf ear 20 the walls Of The kicker. and
the heH-ooys take their own sweet time
about their business. II one man doesn't
pour his money into the till. another VIII.
and that is all there is 70 it.
In the lobby Of that hotel one hears
but three things discussed-oil. politics.
and finance. These three topics OF CON
versation are so closely akin that II may
be said that every one is talking about
the same thing. Among the oil men there
is almost universal denunciation OF the
Secretary Of the Interior. Mr. Garfield.
As many of these men are quite friendly
10 Standard OH, TO say the least. there
Is no love Tor Mr. Roosevelt or his
methods Here are oil men who boast
that they got tie scalp" Of former Secre-
tary Of the Interior Hitchcock. but they
are not particularly glad Of the change
TO Garfield. whom they once regarded as
the very man they needed for the place.
The trouble is all about Mr.. Garfield's
recent rulings concerning the leasing of
Indian lands FOR oil we'll purposes. He
has ordered that lessor who assigns
his lease 20 another at Q profit must di-
vide that profit with the Indian. He has
also decreed that in She future the In
dian owner must rec4ve one-eighth Of
the oil produced as a royalty instead Of
and he reserves the privilege
Of increasing this royalty 10 one-sixtb
OF the production. at his discretion.
The oil operator asks. IF 7 rented a
farm from man and then. by my wits
and capital. made that farm produce q |
greater crop than the owner thought pos-
sible, would il be justice 70 compel me
to pay hIn a. greater rental than the con- !
tract called for?' The same oil man
will argue that the Indian is not the help- (
less child that the government assumes /
he is when il takes charge Of his afTairs