Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1934-06-09

W liam W. Hoyts retired circuit
rider, because be visited dying
girl in tent, and said prayer at her
beside.
Prosperity from tne same source has
descended upon p. J. Risely because
the man from whom ne was buying his
farm declined to take It back when the
mortgage fell due. Just stay there
and improve the property" Risely was
told.
widow Purlie whitney has 5000
IN cash and a big monthly income
because her late husband refused to
leave q croquet game behind the gem
al store at Redstone TO sell a worth
less COW pasture for $500. Wait nm
til beat the champion, shouted
Whitney, waving hts maliet excitedly.
but when he reached home the proc
pective purchaser had left in a huff.
The 75-year-old elder. his neighbor
the widow and others VINO have held
their sandy acres in Porter Township
for years, toiling, shtmping and going
without necessities to meet their taxes
have been lifted by the magic OF nature
to an affluence beyond their dreams
Porter Township, southwest OF Mid
land, has become Michagan's richest
oil field. with potential production
Of $4,000 barrels day.
Derricks raise their towering frame
work from bean patches and corn
fields. The smoke Of bnrning waste
pillows to the sky In suaky black coll
umns. Chickens peck in the shadow
Of storage tanks and Diesel engines
chug staccato rhythm to the lowing
OF cattle grazing among pipe lines
stretched between the stumps.
A year ago poverty sat heavily up
on the township The drab implanted
homes Of residents reflected the hope
iessness of those who are shunted by
Fate into an unprOductiye corner of
the backwoods where crops blew
away" due TO the lightness Of the soil.
and barns sagged dejectedly from
emptiness.
"Michigans richest oil field" echo
the Hoyts. the Risieys. the Whitneys,
Breus, Northrupse and other families
who count scores OF wells from their
kitchens while instinctiYely obeying the
urge to render their own lard and put
up their own sausage 'Michigan's
richest oil field. Who would have
thought ii possible?"
Yet the evidence is only zoo tangible.
The royalty checks--one-eighth the
value OF production-are received
every month
Night and day drills probe deeper
into the earth for more ffdUid gold.
Gold 1t Is to the eye and purse alike,
singing a siren song as it spouts into
the pipes and turning the wneels Of
transportation and industry IN Detroit
and other Michigan cities, to which
II goes BY boat and tank car.
Good Samaritan Paid
Behind The Pure Oil Company's
Hoyt No. g. which soaked the turf
with a geyBer OF OH Nov FL, lies a
story that delights the m0ral1gt A
Good Samaritan has been paid In his
own coin; the hand Of Midas has writ
ten q sequel to a neighboriy act.
The well-biggest in the field
which came in at the rate Of 81 SEQ
barrels day, was sunk on the land
retired circuit rider Obtained by an
odd set Of circumstances beginning in
1917
AuO1LlOu&l CNAIdEloIS IA t4tA5 tA$AA
OF the stumplands are an impoverished
Civil War veteran his son and
daughter-in-law. who left small town
in Eaton County to begin anew. The
first episode occurs In tent on the
40 acres adjoining Hoyt's weather
beaten farm house, and the time Is
zero night In March with the wind
waiiing from the north and snow
sitting under the loosened Flaps.
But first about Hoyt himself
Born near Plymouth Mich. he be-
came Free Methodist pastor in
Paper and adjoining Counties trav-
cling a month at a stretch Ia q
blackboard with q Bible At bis side.
He spread the Gospel az cross road
meetings, IN Indian settlements and
lumber camps. figure Ike that
OF q Covenanter, tall, straight grim
faced, the kindness in his eyes tem-
pered 20 a stesly CLINT by the fires
Of zealotry.
City congregations heard him also.
but ~ years ago mis- health broke
while be was stationed il FLINT Get
a farm and rebuild your constitution"
advised his physician.
The elder laid away his frock coat
reluctantly and went NORTH width his
family. hiring others to 90 his work
until strong enough to grip the pdew
handles himself