The sun., 1912-07-21
FORTUNES In oil are an old story.
4 but fort unes in Wyoming oil are
a distinctly new story. The

progress that has produced the million
aires Of Cripple Creek. Goiiiield. Tellu-
ride. Phnnix and Homestead. u ia pre-
dicted that while Incidentally few men
will he made rich tho really big thing ia
that new towns will be made. new rail-
roads projected. new resources and new
Industries will he developed. and sone
fine day IL the not distant future
Wyoming viii wake up to find she has
million prosperous inhabitants where
she now can boast Of only 2nc. .0Oo.
Sheep and cattle and beautiful irri-
gated valleys Wyoming has rlways had
hut in the main the mcst tlea-ant mode
Of viewing the State is from the window
Of Pullman car. Amid her vast ex-
tanscs of sand dunes and aikai hills. her
green spots with cul,ivat farms were
noticed only rs oases in the sahara. and
the wearied traveller turned 20 his novel
or card game with a yawn and wondered
what such country was ever made for.
Nature has chosen to stcr" her treasures
in forbiddng places She hides her gold
in the iron ranparts of the mountains.
hcr diamonds in tho desert stretches Of
Kimberley. Iier prizes are not for the
weak. Always it is the old story of the
explorer:
I remember lighting fires I remember
sitting by them:
! remember seeing faces, hearing voices
through the smoke.
I remember they we're fancy--tor | threw
n stone to try them.
Some thing lost behind the ranges"
was the only word they spoke.
Yes. your "Neyer-ucver country yes.
your edge OF cultivation"
And mo sense in gons furthe:"--tlll I
crossed the range 10 sec.
God forgive me- No. dldnt. Its Gods
present 10 our nation.
Anybody might have found 1t but-tiis
Whisper came to Me,
SO Wyoming is not for the vote. II is
a rugged broad guage country for rugged
broad guage men. Even her wagons are
built four inches wider than the standard
guage and other things arc on tho same
scale. Waterless. trceless. alkali laden as
she Is. she has treasures beneath her
barren exterior for the man with the
ambition to conquer: treasures Of oil and
coal and iron and copper and the best Of
it is she is past the whispering" stage.
And yet. as tho whisper OF gold in
Cripple Creek was passed from month
bank accounts from her mines we're rea-
lized. so the whisper o! oil in Wyoming
circulated as unheeded gossip for years.
1t was in 1893 that NJ. p. shannon. a
Pennsylvania oil man. scented the treas
ure while tramping through the wilds
fifty miles from Casper ON hunting trip
with French halfbreed guide. Bartiste.
From a seepage spot. on which ia now
the Shannon oil field, he drew sample
10 carry to the Chicago Worlds Fair.
where he won the blue ribbon in compe-
tition with the oils Of the world. The
ground located by Shannon has been
developed by other men and little did the
original dscoverer receive from his find
save the honor Of having his name at
tached to a lubricaiing oil. Years after
his discovery Shannon sold h,s holdings
TO a man named I.obell. who transferred
them to group of Germans and French
men organized under the name ~ TIE
Franco American Oi! Company. Re
Gently reorsani2ed as the Frlnco-Wyom-
ing company. these men are nov develop
ing the shannon field
But the skepticism or man and money
il boundless. Over the bars in Casper
sheep herders. freigh.crs and stra c!;lers
NJ the frontior swonocd stories for wears
~;th o;l !. ths;r burden h,,t nothing was
dons Nav rojded tbo;r hands and siybod
n nd rrr.ad ,hoir ,u,l, or Locked wise
I, hroucht no res,l,. In, i, holpod bust
,a.. ~ Tho h,r 1hey ,vere no, the mon
cho.en IN bo,r.
A"e 'oiru us -, ~ nS ''"s ''''
on orn rvclaat,ne Wb,snor day and
night rcpcatcd-so:
"somcth!us hidden. Go and fnd it, Go
and 'o"N behind me ranges,
SOM ,,,i'S 'i, p'r,,u W. 'a,s' A'os'
Two years ago roung Colorado Springs
man sat III III" oTl"e or n reduction COM
pany at anon rity dub.ousy pounding
out on typewriter the las, letter he was
10 write for his employers for the e1igen-
cies of business had pu' period 10 his
monthly pay check and III was out OF a
job He was shrew and bright young
man. an expert stenographer and book
keeper but the idea OF facing the world
jobless worried him. as 1t worries any
Young man with wife and baby on his
hands
Fate seemed unkind. but he was not
c-vl III lv <la ..I,..s.