The Morning Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Okla.) 1919-1927, 1921-05-27
Some Early History

At.ough much has been said In
r.sIrd 90 the first oil well IL ~ not
.r.g that It is mentioned that VII
Nam Earnsdall. father OF Theodore,
drilled .he second well on oil creek.
fHu details Of which are furnished
,ar Union OF! News by Edwin G.
B.. curator OF the Drake museum,
a. T'gsvIllc.
'Alr Barnsdall lost no time in
drr-fyinR his name with the oil In
dus'ry and II is a name which has
continued the connection to the pres
er. time. being now represented i'm
'h. lille ~ the Barnsdall corpora
uor ON tho Monday following the
srhuE Of oil in the Drahe well,
which happened to he on Saturday.
Nr Darnsdall asked for a Lease OF
A piece " land owned hv his hroth-
sr..u-'aW. James Parker, located
half q mile up the creek from tn"
Drake we'll \ verbal agreement WAS
20 th, effect that William Rarnsda :,
should dril a well on the farm pay
ing all the expenses Of the opera
uo1. and have onc-half the oil OBJ.
tainod from the premises.
Work on the venture began I'm
September, and within q week after
the Drake well came in.
After drilling had started Barns
dali discovered that his Vcrha.
agreement with Parker was likely
90 cause him trouble. The oil bus!-
ness excitement was growing
Strangers We're coming 10 Titusvillc
and leases were being taken up aud
down tho, creek.
"Asccrtsining that Parker pro-
posed TO lease the farm II he got an
offer Barnsdall entered into partner
ship with Henry r. Rouse OF Enter
prise. Pa. and Boone Mead OF
Warren Pa, who were two of the
more active l-asers and the new
firm Of Barnsdau, Rouse and Mead
obtained a written lease for so acres
Of the Parker farm. including the
portion on which the we'll was being
drilled
The we'll was drilled with a
spring pole. The tools used were
light and poorly constructed. The
pins and boxes did not fit, and II wa
necessary TO clean the threads from
dirt and mud each time the tOok
were pulled out The tools became
stuck at 80 feet. and the crew not
knowing how to recover them. qui'
the joh Barndall then completed
the hole with his own labor, auc
about the first of February oI
showed In the sand pumpings at q
depth OF 1l2 foet, and the second Oi
We in the Pennsylvania field wa
struck
con the evening OF the day HI
found oil, Barnsdall went to the der
rick 90 see IL everything was al
right and found oil was flowing owe
tho drive Pipe. Desiring to save wha
he could he began dipping It up witt
pals which he emptied into a squar'
Nat that had been previously bull
short distance from the hole
Whom it grew dark and the oil con
-1u"l 70 flow, he got a tallow can
die and placed it on the floor of tn
d.w'h with no thought that tn
Ham" was dangerous. For sometim
he worked steadily carrying the OF
io the vat, land then noticing a pc
..NIr flicker i'm the candl" tlam
!, occurred TO him that the gas from
The oil might be ignitcd, so n
moved the candle out Of the der
RICK. After a time, desiring 10 az
certain how much oil he had col
''.i'd he held the lighted candl
owe" Tho vat. In a flash the oil wa
On flames and Barnsdall's hair bear
and face wcer s.nged. \ wOode
spout had been built from the der
rick 90 the vat for the purpose a
sfHIng the oil when connected VI
ana through this the flames roare
INTO the derrick. Barnsdall has
tened within and stuffed his overcoa
INTO The mouth OF the wooden pip,
ana $50 saved the rig The fire burne
"j' with no other damage than dos
f"..1s tho vat and burning the ol
ana this was the first oil fire con
h'"'od with the business.
While drilling the Parker we
Efrnsdal took an interest in IN