Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-11-26
Devils Basin Discovery
in November, 1919, Brought
Biz Operators TO Montana
Production Found in Cat Creek in February
1920; Gordon CampbelIs Success in March,
1922, Turned Attention to kevin-Sunburst.

Governor Frantz. founder of the
! Frantz corporation, is now interested
il the Kelvin unburst field as an OIL
ccr IF the ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Ol M
Gas company.
With t~Ete4comiug in of the three wells
III Cat Greek. the oil industry OF Mon
tana was we'll under way. Develop
ment of the field at that time was
steady but BY no means sensational.
From the point of view of admlnlstra-
ton, the two principal events were t u
taking over Of the Frantz interests, the
the Mutual of Maine, and the entry OF
largest single holdings in the field, by
another Standard Oil company. the Md
Northern, subsidiary to the Midwest
Refining. as one of the most aggressive
companies seeking control OF the fleld.
Julius Peters Took Initiative
The field at this time, also marked
the beginning Of at least one big Mon
tana production company, the Home
stake Oil company, a Great Falls organ
E"iZation, backed almost entirely by Great
Falls men. The original holdings OF
the company in Cat Greek were OBJ
tanned BY Julius Peters. Il Great Falls
attorney. who also took the initiatlve
in organizing the company. Associated
with him in an active role was y. b:
Coolidge Of Lewistown, and both of
the men are still principals in its work,
although it has spread to include other
fields and the activity of a subsidiary,
1.-THE Honestake Exploration company.
The Homestake has in its Cat Greek
holdings. the Oldham leases, probably
some of the most valuable acreage in
the field.
Fortunes were made in Cat Greek
oil production. Some of the earnest
of these and perhaps which caused the
most interest of Montana people, was
The Sc Petroleum syndicate, organ,
lied and managed BY Joe Baker and
I5inanced largely by Miles City men,
! Holders of "56" units drew big money
in dividends when the ~company's hold
ings brought in important wells, and
ia the rapid rise of values Of the units
based on its successful operations.
Joe Bakers success brought him the
title of Lucky joe. Baker is again
operating, his company combining
Kevin-Sunburs and Cat Greek hold
ings.
The Western States Oil & Land
company. Il Standard company. brought
in the first wells in Soap creek, with
production running as high as 1.oot
barrels flush production Of heavy on
. from the Madison lime. The company
now has five producing wells in the
, field but development has been ham
fpared by the distance from the rail
way. 81 miles to Hardin.
Goedertz Started Ball A-RoIIing
Albert Goedertz of Kelvin, pioneer
sheepman and land owner Of Toole
county. may claim the credit for start
/ ing the ball ~a-rolling that led to the
discovery of oil there on his ranch ano
subsequent development that has
brought % producing wells and sew.
eral gassers of probably commercial
size. In the opinion Of practical OF
men. the work that Albert Goedertz
started in the spring of 1921 has but
started.
Seven years prior to the spring o.
1921. the Miller well had been drilled
on the edge of the Kelvin Sunburs'
field in section 25-34-4 W. With the
growing interest in Montana posslblii
Ties due to the Devils Basin discov
cry and the development Of Cat Creel
as a wealth giving oil field, Goederti
remembered the pronounced oil show
ings in the Miller well, which was nea1
lands owned by him. He came to Grea
Falls and while visiting with Shire,
s. Ford and Lee ". Ford of the Grea
Falls National bank, asked their al
in determining a man TO ONE into tn
field with the view Of development
Neither of the banker brothers hat
ever met Gordon Campbll, but the.
had heard of his work in the Devil
Basin and they advised that Goedert
get in touch with him.
Coedcrtz did so and found Campbell
at a fortunate time, for the interes
in the Roundup district was waning
Campbell. moreoveri had passed
through the Sweetgrass arch in 1911.
when he was doing some geological
work in Canada. He had seen enougI
Of the country to be satisfied tha
there was a structure and he accepted
the proposal of Goedertz that he ente
the country.
Associated with Campbell in tn
syndicate he organized. was j.. c
i Stevenson of Helena, who had built III
IN automobile agency in the capita
city.
Other Companies TO Enter Field
In the Kelvin Sunburst field, he wa
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