| Show t jC a How the Industry Oil Hs Thrived 1 year yet of the century cent T hall 1 been noted for a great t re reseal viral seal in tn the mineral oil It of the United States The Th last Ia t year of the old century had hardy hardly pawed passed Into eternity whet when a i prodigious excitement was WAIl raised ra ed in iz j the Lone Star state and people went wild over the striking of I 4 thousands thousand of w which spouted I barrels daily A general rush was made I Ito to the southwest and cities sprang up I in th the wilderness while unite fortunes were made with a speed that outrivaled the thep p feats of Alladin A further impetus was given when the great reat railroad lines having terminals in California began equipping their o with oil burnes burners and the fuel oils of th the Los Losa a Angeles Angel district assumed a comme cial import r e never nev r before dreamed of The echo of the first strike In lit Texas had bad only partially died dl d away when oil was encountered in a well which was being sunk for water bv by b the Union Pacific Railroad company near Spring Valley sta ion iun on its line in western Wyoming Oil was u struck In this well at feet the drill passing lg through Fight eight feet ff et 01 oi of oil sand and aed sinking was continued A hen shen a stratum of was encountered and tl t tle e p well was order ordered d plugged Not long fter after a I it was Wall learned that the quality of th tho the oil was wa far superior to the fuel oils o OJ Texas and the California oil fields field in m fact tests tents proved it to be bethe bethe bethe the highest grade gude of illuminating oil et t discovered After this the incipient incipient nt stages s of the oil fever began to tobe tobe tobe be felt n he die public and it was not notIon nots s Ion loh until there was a general rush ru cu on for oil territory and almost t every day clay saw sa w the formation of a new company which had bad for its object the develop development development ment of oil territory Wealth i in la Petroleum There has always been beeR a sort t of offa fascination fas fast t clinging around the very word rt rd petroleum It Stories of fabulous wealth gained in a da day haws hart always been a as associated with the word The greatest t fortune tune known to modern times has bas been built up directly by the handling han hand lpg of he the product of the welts wells It a baa 1153 be omE a colloquialism for rapidly ac acquired acquired wealth that its possessor r had 1 struck oil Thus it was that at t the outset of the excitement the rush was not only made for the territory in Wy where the strike wag was re recorded recorded corded but the wh whole intermountain i country was scoured for oil lands Ev Every Every Every ery locality where indications of oil had been discovered n the past peat or ur where prospecting for the tile fluid had ever eyer been done and the claims aban abandoned abandoned honed for whatever cause became val valuable valuable valuable in the eyes of r U and tens of tho nd of f acres res were staked out in claims The state of Utah has bas long boon ben noted for Its itt deposits of the I hydrocarbons in various forma forms Uin Ui I gilsonite gl onite asphaltum both sand and and rock and a hundred more moe have been deposited depo in immense I quantities in the eastern portion of or the state mostly hi M and around mound the I and Uncompahgre Indian reservations Oil seepages had long been b en known to exist in many parts of the state and in some places prospect pro wells had been sunk with the object of developing for oL oil Besides Be time large lar e areas area were lobe t be beat i ia at a t considerable depth with tJi oIl ng g gI shale I lale What could c uld be more natural han nan that all this should draw the at attention t tendon of thou those who had bad been struck by b the oil fever or that the possibility ot of Utah developing into a great peat oil all producing state as a well as a great vt state began be aa to dawn upon the r r Utah Oil Lands t 4 Between J aau iu Liy ty oil compan companes es have been ben formed most moat mo t of oC them in the pest past six months to exploit e the tale oil lands of Utah These Theoe e companies are al formed from among people of all an walks In life and land is 18 staked taked OIL Ola into claims from Rich county on the north to San Juan county on the south The shale lands landa which are scat scattered scattered over an extent of country I square miles milea according to government nt surveys survey cone in for their share of attention and tests have been made showing many maTy of oC them to be of value containing oil which upon being dis die distilled distilled tilled forms a very heavy t The locations of these companies are areto areto areto to be found in almost every county in inthe Inthe inthe the state but mostly in Carbon Grand Emery J mery San Juan Sanpete Juab Jub Wa Wasatch Wasatch Wasatch satch Utah Salt L La Lek k t Weber Welter Rich Richand Richand Richand and Summit counties Naturally many of these theM locations will prove rove to be without value but geological condi conditions conditions conditions are re such su h as u to indicate that there is a large Jarge territory in the stag atau ta which h upon being thoroughly exploit exploited ed will prove to be of great peat value The character r of the oil oft taken from seepages g s ana alII a from the few wells which have been sunk BUnk to any depth proves to o J be M of a very superior quality the Uie market for tor which te ts unbounded and which will place pla the product on a plane that cannot be affected by local Joe condition Two To Great Basins According Ac to experts the oil oU lands of Utah Uta which will be the most likely to respond to development are a confined to two great basins These ell districts are as all the basin ba in and th the Plenty Fen envy mountain basin ta The first may be said mid to extend from the Wa Wasatch Wasatch Wasatch satch mountains to beyond ond the Colo Cola rad ad line on the east and from the mountains to Brown Cliffs on the south BOuth Here H re are ire to be found im Jm immense mense mel deposits of asphaltum a and Along Aung the entire southern line of this territory tt an arc many oil oU seep Rep seepa a es e and a d few strong oil springs have haven been n discovered ered On Un Soldier Soldiers t creek there is a deposit of asphaltum near which oil oU is i found near the surface and good indications are encountered all aU the distance from that point to Tucker a way station on the Rio Grande Western W estern railroads railroad s ground At Att t f t s Summit the indications of an anor or oi field are art very marked and there is isa Isa isa a large ar area ata a here that will doubtless pay pa for exploiting The Willow Creek Cr k district is also a very ery promising one and several w wells ells which have been sunk here though th ugh they the have hav not attained any great Cita t depth as yet are already producing a very liberal supply of ef high grade oil Along Horse Lawrence Laren and Kyune creeks the formation is very ery similar to that which obtains in the vicinity of Soldiers Soldier Summit Another large lar area is found in the territory drained bj by b the Range Minnie Mead and Quack Quark creeks In this district are also to be found great at bedy bed of sand and asphaltum exposed and the dip t of nf If the formation indicates that in many places place development work would meet w with Uh gratifying gra results ro o 0 the south 1 o of the r r basin is i a country that is barter barrel of all oil in li s the char bar character 1 acter acer of the rock rack in ik ng it next n to Impossible that oil mild fluid he bo stored in them Southern Field The second field lies li a to tHe l south and takes in the south portion of Em Emery EmPry EmPry Pry ery and Grand counties and extends through Wayne county into Garfield county Beyond the San Rafael hills to the south Routh of Castle fastle Dale the same Indications Indica are re encountered f as al in the basin The Ihl San gan Rafael Rifa i iio a a of this field where e already development work has been r O G m tone done of ot a sufficient amount to demon demonstrate strate the character of the oil which baa bas been found to contain a high h h per tage of which makes one of the finest lubricants known Possibly the richest In promise of o these fields elde te is found in what is known aj L a the Green River district in Emery and Grand counties This is also afro the most accessible a l sible being direction on the theline line Hue of the Rio Grande Western rail railroad road read d The Ibe valley contains about 2000 are miles mile of territory and is formed by erosion by wind and wat r which 1 ha hu left eft it a succession of low table tablelands tablelands lands lauds and aDd deep valleys and in many places s of the th cretaceous variety are arc exposed Throughout the valley two immense immen e uplifts are art traced In these anticlines are found many oil seepage page which analysis has proven to be of the family the tha th most valuable of the mineral minerai oils This territory is now being pretty thoroughly exploited and that oil will willbe willbe willbe be produced ed here in m paying quantities seems IUS to have passed pa ed beyond the region of or doubt San Sn Juan County In San Juan county west of Bluff City CIU is another promising field Here the stratification seems to have been left lef intact unbroken by uplifting and lies in a horizontal position except having a slight dip to the west the axis axia of the anticline being east of Bluff City Where the strata have been enough to demonstrate l anything worth worthy wor fh th thy of note Two welts wellS wilt be sunk j i b by this company and a depth of I feet will be reached contracts con to that I effect having already been let The work of the White Star company has already been noted The well it has bas driven is yielding about eighteen bar barr barel barreI r reI eh el of oil pr per r day i j The Uintah Oil company y has been heen doIng dong development work and two wells wel i have been put down upon the property Oil on was encountered in one well at about feet and another was started 1 in fn the same neighborhood This last Jut has been driven feet teet when work was stopped to bring in machinery ma nery with I w which to attain at ln a greater creata depth The San Juan company r has also aJao brought in machinery which Welt has been set up on their holdings holding near Bluff City in San Juan county coun Work ork how however however ever has only jut just been started and andI I nothing can be said akI about the com cost company pany prospects pro as yet yetI I Outside of these concerns who stave have ve I begun the actual work of exploiting the Utah fields there are arc many companies formed some ROme of whom bave have already i ordered machinery for tor sinking Making wells l and some probably the larger number i i formed form i for speculative purposes whose holdings will only be developed upon I I 1 other companies in the field proving successful The names of all aU the companies ob obtainable obtainable obtainable whose holdings are in Utah ter territory territory territory w will ill m be given below together with s K Kr Y r i i EXPOSURE OF OP GREAT ANTI CLINE ON OH HOME O OL L LAND LAMP EIGHT ILES EAST OF OP PRICE UTAH deep canyons canyon and aad along the banks of the streams highly n e to e sand t M and shale are exposed d and in n the these thee are always found strong indications of oil Ex Exploiting in this field has lias been done by bythe bythe I the crudest and most primitive methods methods meth methods but even these have proven that I development along modern modem lines will bring to the surface ce oil of a superior j I grade in paying quantities I K oar r Cotton olton on the Rio Grande Grandee I in n Wasatch county is a field j I which produces oil near the surface I Iq q underlying stratum of sandstone is encountered between I i and aad tOe feet from the surface This i field tieh has haa ha been n exploited e to a limited JUtted extent and aad at a depth of 10 1 feet one well which bich has been sunk produced i I oil at the rate of five Jive barrels per day f This Thi Colton Coton field which is not very extensive exten lve has haa been fully covered by locations the land being held mostly by b Salt Lake parties pArtie At palsy y Fork in Utah county te Js st still atUt another field eki I Sanpete Pete county also possesses large I Leas areas of ot oil shale and has every indi indication indication cation to become be me an oil producing sec section section i tion don when development work has hs been i idone done dove I I Development of Utah Fields As All has bas been stated before the presence pres presence presence ence of oil oft in Utah was not DOt unknown in III the years gone KODe by Some fifteen I years ago Mee nJ W H Bancroft and I IW iW W C Hall started prospecting for oil oilin oilin in ia the Green River field An area of country was staked out and preparations preparations made to sink near some oil seep seepages seepages ages which occurred about four f ur miles miless s I below the railroad crossing The work was abandoned for some cause and it was some years before actual work was wu begun upon the ground A shaft fifty feet f t deep was put down dmn but as noth nothing ing I was developed at that depth the location was again abandoned Of a later date but with better results a company was wu formed in 1894 1184 by G C rat rge t D Haven HavenE E Russet Russel E B Wilt 8 E Graham and others othen tind un tin und I d it h itle of the Juab Oil A tI Coal Col Cole Co cc cc e ny Several thousand acres of oC shale Je lands hinds were located about nine miles from Juab City A prospect well was sunk to a depth of 60 fleet feet pass pus passing tog ing through oil strata all the way down and when work was as discontinued nod the hole was in sandstone and a small mall quantity of oil came up with the water The hole drilled however was only oal six alx lushes inches Inch and that size siR was only carried down a portion of the distance I I and never was intended for fO anything r than a test well weD No work was ever done upon the deposits of oil bearing shale other than to make I tests t An amount was shipped several I years ago to the gas works of ot the Utah i Light cI A Power company x which was f to hav have been used for enriching the gas ps gasI I i manufactured at their plant in this I I oty y Before it was used lifted however the I company discontinued discontinue the system and andI I returned to the old style of making I I coal gas ps and nothing ever came of it iti i iI i I except to demonstrate that the rock 1 contained large quantities of oil With these the exceptions no work to I I speak of was ever done on the Utah I o oil i fields until near the middle of the year just passed when the oil excite excitement excitement I ment struck the intermountain coun country country i try I Wells Being Baing Stank Sank The work of exploiting the almost 1 1 I numberless ss claims daims which were staked I I out during 1901 w was as from the first nt hampered ham hampered by the difficulty of getting ma machinery I chinery for s sinking wells wens and aDd in many i i places for tor the lack of lumber with i which to construct derricks and other buildings at the places selected for i j drilling A few companies have hav been successful in starting work and several sev several several eral wells are being sunk unk with varying results The San Rafael people have han wok sunk one well down 1300 1100 feet on their i property I I 10 pi fn in Emery county count j about sixty 1 n mil es from f Price I Ia the neighborhood I of 25 has baa been expended already in work by the company The lay of ot the well shows bows that the drill has bas passed 8 ed edi i through strata of rock and oil oll I bearing sands |
