Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1914-03-06

had about made up his mind that there
was no oil there, he struck the oil
sand. He knew that a few feet more
of drilling would reach oil, n he
that it was undoubtedly a "dry hole"
and paid them off and let them go.
The next day Page went alone to h
derrick, set the machinery going. and
drilled down through a few feet of Oil
sand, when, suddenly the rich oil came
plugged the we'll so the Oil would
not flow, and apparently abandoned 1T.
The next few weeks he spent in get
ting Oil leases on the land surrounding
his we'll in all directions and when ne
had secured these he went back TO ms
we'll, u%nplugged it, and invited every
one to come and see 1t.
1t was a wonderful we'll. 1t flowed
1000 barrels. of oil a day and every
barrel of 1t worth 80 cents in cash az
the we'll, an income of $500 q Gay lor
Page. minus one-eighth of the Iroduct.
which went to the owned of the land as
his share.
He drilled other wells on the land
he had leased and they were good pro.
ducers. too. and one day a syndlcaIe OIL
modore Benedict. James Kin Duffy
and Clifford b. Harmon offered MN
81. 0O0. 900 in cash for his leases. Page
asked $500. 900 more and the sale was
finally made for s1.250.000 in cash.
which was paid to Page.
Keeping His Promise.
Pages mother was dead years before
this wealth came: but In all the timel
that he had beer wandering over the
west, working at first n thing ana
Their another. he had never forgotten
the promise he had made her that some
day. when he grew big and rich. he
would tighten the burdens OF poor
widows who had to wash to put bread
in the mouths Of their hungry chlldren.
orphans. too. Now he was rich. n
that plan began to take definite shape
in his mind.
The Arkansas river flows over it's
sandy bed just south Of Tulsa and it's
north bank is a low. level flat spread
ing back to a line Of sandhills. Page
believed there was oil beneath that flat.
1t was a jungle of ~brushwood and big
trees. owned by Indians who did not,
live on it. Page got an oil lease on a
tract of it and put down a we'll. The
thick and her dropped into an i'm.
mense pocket of natural gas.
Again Page plugged his we'll and.
quietly went and bought outright 1000
acres of that land. extending from near
out along the river. He built an elec-l
trio railway out from Tulsa through
his 1000 acres to a point seven miles
away. and there he decided to build a.
city of his own and to put upon the
summit of a hill his orphans home.
Before the home was begun Page
came across a family OF eight orphaned
children in Tulsa. who were destitute
and homeless. He bought a tent. pitched
it On the summit Of the hill. furnished
it. hired a woman who loved children
and could cook. and placed her with the
nfDhf Davis children in tho font under.
the big hickory trees. Then he built the
orphans home and other children be-
a coming.
His City Of Sand Springs.
At the same time he began building
his city at the end of his railway. Sand
Springs he called it, and he paid
bonuses for factories to come, and
graded streets and put in a waterworks
plant and sewers.
This cost a great deal of one and
Page had to borrow. Now the oil coun-
try is full OF financial sharks who lie
in wait for independent operators who
become pinched and close in on them.
and a year g they thought they had
Page squeezed so tightly that he could
not escape failure, and they began to
close their hands.
1t is ar axiom of the oil fields that
where there is a there is oil not far
away. South of the Arkansas river,
directly opposite Pages land, a rock
bluff arose sheer from the river bank.
1t was known as Lost City, from the
peculiar formation Of the limestone
rocks, that were gashed with ravines,
like the streets of a city. 1t was u
hopeless looking place for oil, and for
hat reason no oil Spectator had ever
leased it II sum a we'll there. Fol
that same reason. too, Page was able
to get oil leases upon nearly all Of 1t
for very small sums.