Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-11-05

who, early in the winter of 1921,
started examination Of the area. They
worked eastward from the Campbell
we'll and made Sunburst the center of
their operations, stopping with Mr.
I Davis at the Sunburst hotel.
Second Epoch Starts
Upon the findings of Jameson Il
Howard started the second epoch III
the history of the field, for Mr..
then joined with Mr.. Stevenson in
leasing the untouched area around
Sunburst. When leasing was com
| pleted, a map of the field was made
public, showing a structural condition
of which the Gas Ridge district was
shown as the high" extending north
ward on a cross fold toward Sunburst.
Kelvin Well Comes In
After a winter shutdown. the
Campbell well resumed, in March, and
after a few days it was announced that
oil had been struck. Gordon Camp
bell electrified the state and the pc
barrel we'll. Oil operators from near
and far turned northWard to see for
themselves.
Then the sunburst
Meanwhile, a derrick was being
erected on the chosen spot of the
Stevenson leases at S%unburst. w. Il.
Burks. of Cat Greek drilling fame, ar
rived with his crew and in 10 days Of
drilling, brought in a producer at shall
low depth, getting oil in the kootenai
sands. 1t was a high grade of oil
that Immediately arrested the atten-
ton of the industry. The march of the
big companies into the area followed.
with everyone marveling at an oil
T..JI - ,-L+z1 t--o +1.% 1-aIl- ..yE%
miles apart, each got production.
Big Companies Come
One by one the largest oil ON
panies in the west came in and firmly
%intrenched themselves. The Stand
ard of California was the first to
show real money, paying as high as
$500 an acre for lands around the
Kelvin we'll. Incidentally, the Rhoades
group. with its 6,400 acres purchased
by the S11 600 provided Mr.. Campbell,
took its first step towards riches with
an initial dividend of 500 per cent, fol-
lowed by a second division of cash
money of even greater amount, selling
only q fraction of its holdings, A.
Beardslee himself sitting in the midst
Of holdings which will make him Il
millionaire many times over.
Pipe Line Arrives
80 - NDIiip "A NHAift 80 80
the SuDburst side Of the field, out
~maneuvering the other Standard bid
ders. and took over drilling operations
on part of the Stevenson holdings, or
ganized into the Sunburst Oil IL Gas
company. With the Ohio came the
Illinois Pipe Line company and while
the Ohio is launching a S2,0o0,000
dollar development plan, the Illinois
Pipe Line is spending another half
million III its important part of the
field development. This company es-
tablished it's tank farm, the end Of the
pipe line, at Sunburst, securing a sid
ing with long loading tracks adjacent
to its great tanks, and is nov ready
to load Sunburst crude oil for the
markets of the north and west.
Almost over night Sunburst sprung
from a three-building town into a
dizzy oil fields camp. 1t was chosen as
the unloading point for the major
operations Of the field. The Ohio OIL
company was the first to place its field
operations in Sunburst. followed by
the Carter Oil and other large oper-
ators, Sunburst Oil & Gas having its
headquarters there also. The prin-
cipal supply houses were in the van
guard and Parkersburg Rig & Reel,
National Supply, Continental Supply,
and May Tank companies soon had
warehouses. Town lots jumped to ,ln-
heard-of prices and the natives pinched
themselves to make sure they were
alive when they were offered from
$50 to $500 for lots on ground which
n short time before might have been
sold for $50 an acre had there been
n buyer.
Values Jump Skyward
Lots on the main drag of the
town mounted to as high as $500.
Outside capital began to pick up op-
p%ertunities which the natives could
not finance. r. A. st. Amour, Great
Falls merchant, paid $1,000 each for
lots on which he built a store. Frank
Nolan paid 81 700 for his two lots on