Glacier County chief., 1940-10-11
By C. E. MATSON

When the writer first arrived in
Keyin the town boosted of one
hotel. one store and a bOxcar used
Is depot. There were the re-
mains of an old lumber yard which
Sas pretty badly wrecked from the
Wind but which had prOspered dur
hg the land boom. Gordon Camp
kll was drilling for oil about three
miles from town. His engineers, Mr..
lincoln and James Mcgowan, and
office force ate at the only eating
place which was operated by James
Rock and his wife.
CampDell's we'll site was located at
Genie spot on a flat short distance
low the Rimrock, the escarpment OF
"a Ke ln-Sunburst field Very few
Eople had any faith in oil ever being
rlck II this part of the country, but
fmpbe.Is faith was undaunted. He
tn.inu,d his drilling as the money
I'd forthcoming.
stevenson Got Money
l. c. Stevenson was the financial
.aard on the project and was success
4 in raising the money to carry this
-s. well to completion.
Mrs Campbell was on the job often
| "a always expressed her hope that
La husband would be successful in
10 undertaking. She realized her
tthe5 as far as the finding of oil was
tnrerred, for, eventually, Campbell
rGrk the liquid gold for which he
BID been looking. Financially. how
ksr, Mrs. Campbell's dreams did not
tateriallze.
This discovery of oil, in 1921, was
tade in the district now one OF the
k.yeSt oil fields in the country in
|rsa
About this time L. C. Stevenson en-
|nset the services Of Jameson and
I;1Tard who made the original map
e this field and staked out the Site
" SteyenSon'S first prospective oil
BEL W E. Burks had been given the
kltraCt for drilling this well about six
|ElsS north and east from the Camp
kl Discovery well on land designat-
as good only for sheep paSturage.
ne wei! site was on land homestead
Z BY Richard Davey and was a short
|-Sance from what is now Sunburst.
Esk town, like its neighbor Kelvin, was
Erdly on the map.
Increase Stock
Stevenson, with his brothers, reM-
Eaers, organized the Sunburst Oil and
EH company. While this first well was
ping drilled the capital stock of the
|Fnpany was increased and they took
Z Dorsey Hager and Mr.. Elder (then
fnulacturer Of the Day Elder trucks
HageT, an experienced oil geologLst,
nS at the well site. drilling was now
z operation and hole was being made.
Y last the depth was reached where
Per expected TO find oil, but it looked
FsT Encouraging. Burks, the con-
Factor. had about given up the idea
q! oil would be found underneath
= derrick and had gone to Kelvin.
zane he was in Kelvin, Burks and a
INCH OF US were standing in front of
z only hotel when Sam Teagarden,
aolsher of the Oil Field Bulletin.
.sAed up shouting that oil had been
Elck in Stevenson's No. / well. We
q not believe it as Burks had Just
u the well a short time before be-
aEe he considered it a failure as far
OIL was concerned.
Oil Proven There
n order to prove that his statement
y True Sam Teagarden produced a
Tr!tten statement Signed by Dorsey
:Aser stating that oil had been found
shallow depth in what is now
r9Hn as the Sunburst sand
Inc we'll was estimated as one
.adred barrel producer. This written
Ss;ement changed the complexion of +
sAgS and Bill Burks wasted no time
getting into his car and going at
Y speed for the new well Sam Tea .
Naeen sent the news in to the Great !
sS papers and soon the world heard
thls new oil strike. This was the !
NJ commercial well in the district