Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-03-24
GREATEST OIL FIELD
Oklahoma Leads in the Pro-
ductjon of Petroleum.
INDIANS RECEIVE ROYALTIES
Average Daily Output Is About
10000 Barrels.

By WILLIAM e. CURTIS.
Special Correspondents Of The Star and the
Chicago Record Herald.
TULSA. Okla, March 20, 1911.
Oklahoma is the greatest petroleum
producing field in the world, surprising
Pennsylvania. Ohio, West Virginia and
all foreign centers of production, although
it fell behind California for one year. All
of this oil belongs to the Indians. and
they receive a royalty upon every barrel
that is produced. The average daily pro-
duction in Oklahoma Is about 10000 bar
rels. and the Indian owners of the land
receive royalty of 10 and Il per cent. l
could not get the returns for 1910, because
they are not yet complete. but the rec
ords for 1900 show that out of a total
of 10000 members Of the Five Civilized
Tribes. 1900 were being paid royalties
by the oil companies on a basis OF d.
717.OO barrels in 1907: 41.01O0OO bar
rels in 1905 and 40,21O.0OO barrels in 1902
During the year 1909 the Indian bureau
OF the United States government disburs-
ed $3.50. 126 i'm royalties and bonuses to
the 1J,COO Indian owners of Oil lands
among the Five Civilized Tribes, and
s4SS.a1O to the members Of the Usage
tribe. which is independent. This is an
average of about 5000 each to the menu
bers of the Five Civilized Tribes and
nearly 5000 each to the members OF the
Usage tribe, who are the richest people
In the world. They have a higher aver
age of wealth per capita than any other
community in America or elsewhere. de-
rived not only from royalties from oil and
coal, but from the leasing of their farm
ing and grazing lands to farmers and
cattlemen.
t. a. esti,,,,taj {bat tho Osoye- u-ho
Number about loo people. arc worth an
average OF $4,000 EACH but that is mere
conjecture. 1t Is impossible TO estimate
their riches, They are doing very little In
the way of Improvement. Very few Of
them save their money or spend il in such
way as to promote their welfare. They
waste 1t in extravaganza. folly and dissi-
patton, and wealth Is a curse instead of
blessing to them. But they will always
have enough to live on. as their trust
funds in the Treasury of the United States
ire sufficient to sustain them forever.
Strip of oil-Bearing Land.
There is strip of land stretching from
ehe Mosho river i'm Kansas down to the
Cult of Mexico in Texas under which
Are two, and In places three. strata Of
sand which contain petroleum. This
sand Is protected by a roof of limestone,
varying in depth from the surface from
seven hundred to two thousand feet. In
some places IL says down as low as
.wenty-four hundred feet This strip Is
about one hundred miles wide. In Kan
sas and the northern part of Oklahoma
disintegrated as 1t extends southwark and
In the Texas and Louisiana fields the
sand Is In loose particles.
The discovery of oil in Oklahoma came
after the Kansas development. In 1901
and roc prospectors went over the Dor.
der and drilled wells upon lands belong
ing to tho. Cherokees, Choctaws and
ne that te the ipd ine Wbo
had held their lands In common were re-
ceiving their allotments and prospectors
had to make leases with individuals in
stead OF with tho tribal governments.
eary Of the Interior. The terms at first
we're from one dollar 70 Ave hundred dol
lars an acre while prospecting was 60
Ing on. Later When oil was struck and
leases were made on royalty OF eight,
ten and finally twelve and a half per
cent Of the crude oil produced. The roy
alttes were calculated by the pipe line
companies. which buy the entire. product
snd measure It as It coYnes from the
wells. Tho daily returns from each well
were sent to the Indian agent. who COM
dian was entitled. ana the pipe line COM
pany paid 1t to the asent in monthly set
Elements. -,s,s
There are three companies doing bust
ness in Oklahoma, buying land. drilling
oil, SO that there Is no monopoly, al
though they have an understanding and
10 not interfere with each other.
Half Handled by the Standard.
The largest of the three is the Standard
Oil Company, which is represented by a
subsidiary organization known as the
nd q. ny nh n "a n
pipe line running from the Oklahoma
Held to its refinery at Neodesha, Kan,
and from there to another refinery at
Kansas City. Mo- Ii is also building a
refinery Is being erected. The new line
passes through tho new Kato and Louis
lara Oil fields. The Standard Oil Com
pany handles onc-half vi the entire prod
uct of oklahoma. II owns 1,157 storage
tanks. j. 40 acres of land, has 80 pump
ing stations. owns 3,253 miles of pipe
lines, operates 1.225 wells. employees $40
men. produced o..11S,s2i barrels Of oil
last year and pGrchs scd Us. ion go bar
cels from other producers.
The second company il known as the
.iuh pire line. which was organized by
John w Gates and associates in> 1897
with capital OF S3.sno.Up and has about
100 miles of pipe lines running from Tul-
"a, Okla, to Port Arthur, Tex, with 13O
tanks. 1s0 employees and an average run
of c0.6IO barrels q. day
This company has refinery at Port
Arthur with a capacity OF 5000 barrels
II crude oil per day and ships its prod
ucts by sea to Atlantic ports of the
United States in tank steamers.
The Texas company is owned by a
Psttsburs syndicate. II has a capitaiiza-
ton of S1a.oOpave. an eight-inch pipe line
from Tulsa TO Port Arthur, 800 miles
long. with a capacity of 22.5oo barrels a
lay, and employees 125 men. It's refinery
az Port Arthur has a capacity Of 1900
barrels daily and another at Dallas has