Evening star., 1945-11-26

NSeuHS SiuHI pVuV ~
Cripple Creek in '90s
Ry the Associated Press.
RANGELY, Colo, Nov. 26.-
There's new gold rush in full swing
in Colorado and for excitement and
get-rich-quick delirium 1t is rem
iniscent of the stampede to Cripple
Creek in the COS.
It's black gold this time-rich oil
that seeps out of the sandstone and
bubbles over the surface of this basin
not far from the Utah. Colorado
border.
The Rangely oil field is brand
new baby but biologists already are
comparing it with the Oklahoma
City pool, which roared into ex-
istence with OO-barrels-a-day
gushers in the 20's.
Only few score wells have been
completed to date but the United
States Geological Survey estimates
there will be at least 300, one well
to each 40 acres.
Just Wide Spot on Road.
Speaking conservatively, major
companies with a stake in Rangely
predict that the field ultimately will
produce 418,000000 barrels of oil
The Salt Greek field in Wyoming
previously the biggest in the Rockies,
had produced 281, 100000 barrels at
the start of this year.
The town of Rangely was just a
wide spot in the road that meanders
across the basin with a postoffice
school, general store and half a
dozen scattered dwellings.
A few weeks later heavy oil field
trucks had churned the main street
into a sea of mud. Frame business
buildings of every description
sprung up overnight.
Rush on Liquor Store.
J. w. Hays came to Rangely to
open liquor store and started do
ing land Office business right
away"
The lumber used in the fioorings
of his shop was green land it kind
of shrunk," Mr.. Hays said. II had
to put linoleum on it so the boys
wouldn't drop any thousand dollar
bills between the cracks"
At the junction where U. S. High
way 40 turns onto the Rangely road
an entirely new town-Artesia-
blossomed like magic, boasting two
theaters, stores, pool halls and the
inevitable liquor dispensaries.
On up Highway 40 a couple OF
miles toward the Utah line lies
Wiley's Resort, the property OF
Wiley Baucum, whose real bonanza
is an artesian water well from which
flows the only pure drinking water
in this arid territory. Wiley's wa
ter supplies the Oil field and the
town of Rangely-for a price-and
it's understood that his water well
is more valuable than any oil well
$4,000 Night Club.
But Wiley isn't just standing wait
ing for the profits. He's building
a $4,000 night club which he says
will be the finest between Denver
and the West Coast"
The boom has echoed all the way
to Craig, an established town l1C
miles southeast of the field which
had 1000 satisfied souls before the
upheaval and now has about twice
that many. Craig is the nearest
railroad point to Rangely and the
funnel through which flows all the
massive quantities of drilling equip
ment headed for the field.
Craig is too far from Rangely for
committing, but several supply and
equipment firms have built ware
houses there. The Halliburton Oil
Well Cementing Co. put up the big
gest cement handling plant in the
Rockies in Craig. Oil executives
brought their families there to live.
The town just can't bed and board
all It's newcomers. Even chicken
houses and garages have been con-
yerted into dwellings.
Known Since 1902,
Presence of oil in the Ranpely
basin has been known since 1902,
When crude was seen seeping out of
the ground. Drillers went after it,
but not far enough. Many shallow
wells were drilled and some pro-
duced for time. But up to 1893
production was small.
In that year, the California COM
pany sank test 5000 feet below
the surface, to bring in the first
deep producer. But the area was
isolated from railroads and mar
kets and the well was abandoned as
nonprof1table.
Then, a few months ago, Cali
fornia Co., the Texas Co., Stanolind
and other majors moved into
Rangely in full force.
To get out the oil, the Stanolind
Pipeline Co. built a 150-mile 10
inch pipeline from Rangely to Wam-
sutter, Wyo., where 1t connects with
a trunk line leading into Salt Lake
City reflneries.
s15o,000 Cost Per Well.
Colorado has no conservation laws
to dictate well-spacing patterns but
Rangely wells are spaced at 40 acres
for economical reasons. It has cost
from 100000 to $15O,000 to drill
each well in the field.
Living conditions in the Rangely
area are so bad it's constant strug-
gle by the oil companies to get men
who will stay on the job
To overcome this condition one oil
company is building a string of
permanent flve-room frame and
concrete homes that will be rented
for SIG a month.
indicative of their faith in the
field, the companies are building
their permanent structures to last
80 years or more.
The Series "E" Victory Loan Bond
natures in 10 years and returns 81
for every So invested.
[SEMENT.
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