Saturday news. (Watertown, S.D.) 19??-19??, 1918-11-07
OIL IN HARDING
COUNTY IS THE
VIEW OF Ward

iiAi'' - wy - 80 = :. HN'A $50
Ward, professor of geology at the Uni
versity of South Dakota mi state geo
logist, who spent last summer invcsti-
eating the Harding county region.
In his recent report Doctor Ward said:
Interest in oil and gas in this state
still runs high despite the lack of n
big funds to date. Considerable in
quiry has been made concerning TIE
northwest part of the state. To meet
this demand the past field season was
devoted to Il study of the r2sion.
Further field work is necessary before
anything more positive can lie said.
The problem will probably never be en-
tirely settled until, in addition to the
field work. a few deep holes ere put
down. Harding county is in the ex-
trcme corner of the state.
THE rocks of this region are all IF
sedimentary origin. Probably four
fifths of the county is covered by the
Lance. This consists essentially Of
clays and shale with local beds of sand.
stone. Beds of Ignite are also common
III l''ii - vi tlIin -NSiiS VI
the strata are widely persisten; rather,
variation is The rule both vertically
and horizontally.
I'm the northeast part of the county
and further west in the Cave Hills and
Table Mountain the surface material is
Fort Union. In the Slim Buttes and
Short Pin Hills-southwest and south
east parts of the county respectively
the A%riliaree and White River occur.
The first two formations are made up
p~redominantly of sandstone. The lat
ter is chiefly clays.
"There is a small area of Fox Hills
tsandstonel in the northwest part of the
county, and along the extreme south
ern part of the county Fox Hills again
is present together with a slightly large
er tract of Pierre (shale).
N oils epages or scums, no gas
springs, no a%sphaltic substance, etc,
have been found by this survey. A
| number of scums have been reported.
These have been examined in so far
as that was possible and none of them
| have beer indicative of oil or gas. AS
far as is known there is no authentic
case of surface evidence of oil or gas
in the county.
1.-THE entire absence of surface in
dications of oil and gas does not ne,
cessarily mean an entire absence of
those substances deeper down. In fact,
there is every reason why they should
| - ,,o,al, 49, -. Yl.a4
they are present below-for the oil and
gas horizons Of this region are in the
Cretaceous and the thick cover of
dense, impervious Pierre Shale would
naturally prevent any upward escape.
Cracks n openings in the everything
Pierre might let the Oil and gas work
toward the surface, but there seems
to be a general absence of such frac-
lures.
THE absence Of surface indications
is an entirely negative piece of evi.
dence.
THE belief that oil or gas may exist
below the surface in this county has
arisen because in the neigllboring
states of Wyoming n Montana both
oil and gas have been found. The val.
ue of this relation depends on the dis.
lance from the nearest producing
fields, the correct correlation and pos.
sible variation of this strata in the Civ.
en- distance, and other factors.
1T must not be forgotten that this is
a pure assumption, and 1t must not lie
accepted as valid WITHOUT due consid
~eratii.l Of wla. j; it.tci..a.
The nearest productive field in wy
oming is the Moorcroft field in thu
northeast part Of the state. 1T is x
miles from the nearest southwest cor
ner of Hardin county. 1t has never
reached quantity production and at tn,
present time it is rated as unproduc
tive. The chief oil horizon is the Gran
eros. There are other anticlines in wy
oming nearer to South Dakota. These
are. now being explored.
"Gntil OIL or gas is struck in com
me-. cial Quantity in the northeast CDR
NEE of Y yoming, the relation between
Ha'Jnsg county and the wyoming III
field can only be considered suggestive
and 1t should cause no excitement noi
create any strong hopes of success.
THE nearest productive field in Mon
tana is the Baker field which is thirty
five miles from the nearest part north;
west cornero Of Harding county. This
field is already productive Of gas inc
oil as vet on commercial scale anS
bids fair TO increase in Importance very
decidedly. It is located oii the Glendive
anticline already mentioned. The gas
horizon is 4 sandstone bed In The
Pierre.
The Baker field is an important cne
It Isl not an extreme distance from Hard
Ing county. The anticlinef on which tn
field is located reaches into Harding
county. All this does warrant Some as.
sumEficn that gas land possibly oil, may
be folnl in the county either IN the
main anticline itself or some OF the
smaller ones adjoining. providing any
other factors do not interfere.
The absence Of surface \ lance is
g negative argument; it neither sap.
ports q refuses the belief d 1 Oh 81