Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-11-26
PER CENT PAID
ON STOCK OWNED
IN RHOADES Group
Present kevin-Sunburst Com
pany Was Organized on
Spur of Moment.

II WAS cblN IAN LNot * A'PfN|~~
that the Kevin-Sunburst company. the
organization that has the honor of
having paid the largest return on orig
inal investment of any company in the
Kelvin Sunburst field up to this time,
did not also drill in the discovery Well.
AT the time the originators of the
bought its 6,400 acres from
Gordon Campbell, they entered into an
agreement with him that should he fail
TO drill a well on the property within
10 days, they might, within the 10
DAYS following, organize q company and
start drilling operations. Campbell
turning over to them an additional
5000 acres and taking $1,000 in
shares of stock in the company.
Within the 10 days that Campbell
had 10 close his drilling contract,
Judge Roy f. Ayers of Lewistown had
brought him in touch with AFby
Beardsley, who paid $4,000 for G,4Oo
acres Of leases. Campbell at that
time had about 10000 acres leased in
the field. With this $4,000 and the
$4,000 of the Kelvin unburst group,
Campbell placed a rig on the property.
The kevin-Sunburst group had It's
inception in Il group Of four men who
happened to be sitting February IS,
1921. in the office of Walter ).
Bright in his hotel IN Lewistown.
Campbell was stopping at Bright's
hotel and the hotel man had come to
know him and something of his plans
in the northern part Of the state. The
four was Walter S. Bright, Judge Roy
u. Ayers and John 3. Ritch Of Lewis
w and ". Il. Rhoades of Great
Falls, who was in Lewistown IN bus
mess.
No Syndicate Formed
Campbell was called in and in a few
minutes, the deal was completed. The
group of four were to pay $4,000 and
in return TO get their pick Of G,4D
acres Of the 10000 acres OF leases.
The written agreement covered only
a few pages. The leases were to be
turned over to Rhoades who would
hold them for the group and their as
sociates. When the leases were filed,
be filed a declaration of trust. There
never was a syndicate formed, but the
interests of these leases came to be
known as the Rhoades group and
sometimes as the .Rhoades syndicate.
The agreement originally provided
that Campbell was to retain one-eIghth
interest in the acreage, but this was
IILGT tluLRtu Dy SdIlipDSII tdAlbS an
interest in the group and assigning the
leases to the group without reserva-
ton. Campbell still has 100 shares in
the company as it was later incorpo-
rated. Beardsley, in this purchase,
took the full interest in the leases.
In the spring of 1922, the group and
the associates they had interested IN
the leases, incorporated as the Kelvin
Sunburst company with a capital stock
Of 5000 shares at SO par value q
share. Of this, 1900 shares is all
that was aver issued. The sharehoid-
ers were for the most part friends of
the original four in Lewistown and
Great Falls, who had become interest
ed in the holdings.
The first board of directors were:
ID r.. Edwards. Louis Newman, w. j.
Rhoades, Walter Bright and John d.
Mc1ntire.
California Company Buys Leases
The first dividend, t~otaling $4,000
and representing a return of 800 per
cent on the original Investment, was
paid June %. 1t was the result Of the
sale of $40 acres Of leases to the Cal
ifornia company, the k~evin-Sunburst
retaining an overriding royalty.
October 90, the dividends paid was
- mHQH IL tcIdl VI IooS PEI VIZ Wy II
addition of another 500 per cent de
clared. This was another sale to the
California company, that company
paying $4,000 for $40 acres of the
Lincoln permit. On some Of the acre
age purchased, the California paid rs
high as $500 an acre, probably a rec
ord price in the field.
In eight months, the Kelvin Sunburst
had paid on the basis Of 10 to l and
had made sales of acreage to a total
of 10 to / on the original investment.
The company still holds approximately
5000 acres of leases, largely IN the
west end Of the field and a small tract
in township 35, range 2 west.
The present directors of the COM
pany are: Walter S. Bright. A.
Beardsley. George Hurd, William
GrilIs. Walter Bright is president and
Judge Ayers is secretary Of the com
pany. ..z..
From. the standpoint of labor supply,
Ia1t mn