Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-03-24
independent Refineries.

V10ual producers, more or less lnuePcio-
ent, but there is not much competition,
as the price of crude oil is regulated by
the law Of supply and demand, just like
the price OF wheat, corn. pork and other
agricultural products. Some of the lnde-
pendent operators own their wells, nav
ing been able to purchase the land from
members Of the Indian tribes who are
allowed to sell. All allottees who are less
than half blood, and all owners who have
inherited allotments are allowed to sell
from selling for a term Of twenty-one
years.
The freedmen is. the descend
ants Of negroes who were formerly slaves
in the Five Civilized TribeS-are also
allowed to sell their land. They have been
treated very generously by the govern
ment. although they were not recognized
as members by the tribes and had no
right to vote. These freedmen are taking
better care Of themselves and are more
industrious and thrifty in saving and in-
vesting their money than the Indians.
Some Indian Capitalists.
About, one-half Of the Indians are vast
ing everything and probably an equal
number are making good use Of their
wealth and investing 1t to a profit. Sew
eral Indian families have become rich.
The Berryhill brothers. at the town OF
Sapulpa, have the reputation Of being
shrewd and careful business men and
are increasing their fortunes by wise in
vestInents
Reinforced concrete ONCE building at
Sapulpa, which does them great credit.
The Glenn family OF Sapulpa are also
prominent in commercial affairs. and
have a reputation for business ability.
The Drew family in Tulsa have also be-
come wealthy. and many other Indians
might be mentioned who have shown
capacity for business and are quite
as enterprising as any Of the whites.
Unfortunately. however. a large number
Of the Indian lessees are depraved and de-
graded. and prefer to live In disreputable
old shscks on the lands that they have
leased and spend their time loaf1ng
around the saloons. They do not seem to
little community in which they have al
ways lived. and do nothing but draw
their dividends through the agent of the
government and spend them at the sa-
looms The government maintains indus
trial Indian school missions here and
there, and the state has complete free
school system. The half breeds and all
who have any white blood in their veins
usually send their children, but the full
bloods do not take much interest in edu-
cation, and allow their little ones to run
at large. Altogether there seems to be
just az much human nature In an Indian
as there is in q white man. I suppose
that II an equal number OF white people
stances and were allowed to draw reg
ular dividends sufficient to feed and clothe
them without having to work they would
soon sink into the Same degeneracy that
at least one-half Of the tnbesmen show.
Indeed, those who have made a study OF
the question are Of the opinion that the
average Indian is doing better than white
men would have done under the same
circumstances. Idleness is pretty apt to
be followed by decay.
The Glenn Pool.
the center Of the old production in Okla
hOma-a pool OF oil discovered by
''squaw man. named Glenn upon the
lands allotted to his Indian wife and
daughter Ida, which gave the name to
the district. It has produced more abun-
dainty than any other old field ever
known and has already yielded at least
one hundred millions of barrels. In 1909
about 25.0o0'00o barrels were taken out
Of this field.
At least 10000. 900 is invested in the
Glenn pool district in pipe lines, tanks,
pumps and other buildings. 1t Is situated
about the center of what was formerly
Indian Territory and Sapulpa is the prin-
cipal town. In 1905 it consisted Of a few
scattered Indian families. Today there
arc $500 enterprising people with attract
well filled shops. Most OF the employees
in the oil fields are Americans who have
come here from the Oil districts of Penn
syivania, West Virginia, Ohio and Ind1-
ana.
Productiveness Of the Wells.
The wells are drilled In rows 200 feet
apart and each is covered with a derrick
about sixty feet high. which gives Pc
culiar aspect to the country. They are
ond a ST ipQT9nll
poles. When q we'll is first opened the
Oil flows freely, but soon after it Is nee
eSsary to use pumps There have been
several wonderful .gushers, producing
as much as 400 barrels q. day. Now
the average for new wells is about 100
barrels q day, and after running a while
they show q falling of. The daily aver
age per well throughout the country Is
say, however. that the deposits of oil in
the subterranean sand are sufficient to
last for sixty or seventy years at the
present rate of production When the
driliers fail to find oil in the upper
strata of sand they continue to bore deep
err and always find it in the lower strata.
The average production, however. is
gradually decreasing. although new wells
are being opened every week D!rng
the last year there were 1913 completed
wells. OF these $50 were dry and 2,7i2
were producing regularly.
The average daily production for the
state of Oklahoma during the last hVe
years was as follows:
Barrels. Barrels.
1906 III, 300 1908. .......... 214, 152
1906 . 161 ,2S6 1863. .......... FOG, 454
1907 ........... 459.S62
There are 100000 barrels OF Oil in
storage tanks built Of steel in groups
throue bout the oil field. These groups arc
called tank farms The Standard Oil
Company has q sixty-acre farm" COW
cred with steel tanks about 200 feet apart.
| each holding about 5000 barrels. When
prices are low and oil Is plentiful the
| tanks are filled, when the price goes UP
| they are emptied. and their contents are
| shipped to market. The ruling price at
present is a. cents a barrel. the highest
| realized since the Oklahoma field was
| opened. The price has been down as low
| as S5 cents a barrel.
The total value Of the oil produced in
| Oklahoma during the last three years has
| averaged ST. 10000. and it Is believed
that this average will be maintained in
definitely.
Immense Coal Fields.
There are immense coal fields in Okla
homa, also belonging to the Indians. The
annual production amounts to about
| 100000 tons, upon which the operators
| pay a royalty Of cents ton to the In
/ dams. from whom the mines are leased.
/ The coal area is estimated to cover half
L ia eoolooiofC V