Show newly found wealth of oil and copper in wyoming from 0 omaha r h world herald of the industries in which omaha ONE is most deeply interested because it will be the logical shipping point of the product is the development of the oil regions of southern wyoming just what the capacity of this region is it is difficult to state prof wilbur 0 knight occupying the chair of geology g y in the school of mines of the university siv of wyoming and prof E E of the chemistry department of the edme same institution who have made most exhaustive investigation into the fields of the state both in the southern and northern districts are unable to asseverate with any degree of certainty what quantity of oil really exists that it does exist and that its quantity must be large they both affirm and support their conclusions by evidences which are patent to geologists the only cause for their inability to gau gauge ae the quantity is the lack of merely because of the recent discoveries of flowing oil in what appear to be inexhaustible quantities but because the interests which lre are proceeding with development work are sufficiently po powerful we rf ul to warrant the statement that work will be pushed and a final determination arrived at of the value of the state as an oil producer these interests are varied the oil region which has been tapped within the past three months is practically controlled by the oregon short line and union pacific railroad companies the recent addition of three members of the standard oil companas comp anys directory to the directory of the union pacific and oregon short line to those positions which the standard oil company already held in the directories of these two roads indicates that an activity will shortly occur in the development of the wyoming fields which has never hitherto been experienced land large coal producing districts of the evanston region the old town of fossil consists four log houses one of which has been trans of formed into a store and saloon the ne new town that at which the sta station tion has been erected consists at present of three lo 10 v houses besides the station itself about no no vember 15 when flowing oil was struck where a salt lake city company was drilling about three and one half miles from fossil a civil engineer who was making investigations foran idaho company seized the opportunity obtained options on half a section of land sur bur rounding the depot and laid it out into town lots on which he expects to reap a fortune when the anticipated rush occurs in the spring the oil strike was made too late in the season for any rush to bo occur at the time yet in two and a half days after the a announcement ou de enn of the strike no less than eighty prospectors pec tors cottages were to be seen in course of southwestern WYOMING OIL WELLS T q af rsm IR p THE FOSSIL CON OIL WELL THE PIEDMONT OIL WELL THE ORIGINAL U P OIL WELL which exists due as they say to the misunderstanding of the western conditions under which oil occurs only two companies have so far found producing wells in the northern fields one of these is the company which was headed by the late dr graff of omaha which made a strike near lander opening three wells the other is the pennsylvania company which has ten wells in operation on salt creek the production of these wells is not of great commercial importance because of the absence of transportation facilities the lander district for instance being at least miles from rawlins the nearest station on any railroad the development about casper and in the big horn district is somewhat advanced but only to such a degree that the oil produced is used in the respective localities the flows are not heavy but steady the oils are of commercial commer I 1 cial value for lubricating and illuminating purposes and that they exist in marketable quantities ap appears pears certain from the small amount of development work which has been actually done in southern wyoming lies the district which is attracting the most attention not commissioner mcallaster of the union pacific is in it his denial that the standard oil interests will pervert the development of the fields and while not positively stating that they will pursue active operations erat ions declares that they will work to the best interests of the roads in developing every portion of the country through which the lines pass and this includes the development of the wyoming fields general passenger agent burley of the oregon short line located at salt lake city is enthusiastic over the oil prospects of the southern portion of the state his line is taking the deepest interest in the development of the fields and there is excellent reason for believing that it will push the development work if for nothing more than to enhance the interests of the road by increasing passenger and freight transportation the company has secured over of the claims filed on oil lands in the fossil district which is at the present time exciting the most attention fossil I 1 is located eleven miles west of kemmerer kemi twelve miles west of diamondville Dia and nine miles west of frontier the three erection from the fossil depot platform the salt lake city company which made the borings bolings which proved successful in bring inga twenty four barrel fl flow ow to the sur surface f a ce from the first oil sand strata at a depth of feet has sufficient capital to put down the well the or 1000 feet at which it is believed a flow of gusher proportions will ivill be struck the idaho people whose engi engineer john W triggs an indiana oil expert is on oil the ground have secured from pitts pittsburg bur proper machinery for drilling upon an extensive scale and will begin work so soon as absence of inclement weather will permit upon two wells which will be sunk on the opposite side of fossil from that mat where the salt sait lake city company made a strike at almost the same time that the salt lake city company struck a flow another of utah and an company composed principally nd idaho capitalists struck a light flow one 8 an the fir first t flow lio a half miles southeasterly from both flows were reached at a depth ol of 0 feet indicating a similarity in format formation 0 n in WO work rk indications point to development this region during the com coming ing year ani will assure the production of oil U upon pon a la 0 scale provided that it be found that the how flow is as predicted sufficiently large to make it of commercial importance the oil in this region is not only a magnificent fuel oil but an excellent lubricant while it is susceptible to refinement for illuminating purposes this portion of southern wyoming has witnessed a wonderful development because of the immense coal deposits which exist and which are now being worked three years ago aaa kemmerer was not known to the world but today it is the scene of the shipments of approximately tons of coal per day which is taken from the mines within its own limits and those at diamondville Dia one mile east and frontier one mile west farther east is the rock springs district from which approximately tons of coal have been taken during the past year A second work of development which wh ich has marked the past year in southern wyoming is that of copper mining from which has sprung a discovery which will prove of possibly worldwide world wide importance this class of mining is being mainly done about grand encampment camp ment forty four miles south of rawlins and at present without railroad but which defect will be remedied in the spring by union pacific extensions concerning ce berning rnino t this district the follo following wim statements by james kyner formerly of omaha will prove of interest as well as convey information grand encampment is the main supply point for the largest and richest copper field in the world located at the foot of the sierra madre mountains forty four miles south from the nearest station on the union pacific it has an altitude of feet it is a healthy town in more ways than one it is not yet three years old and is wearing boots it has a number of large supply dousas stores shops and hotels and an indefinite number of saloons and a fine smelter with a capacity for the reduction of tons of copper ore daily is in full operation the ore is hauled from the mines to the smelter on wagons and sleds as is also the matte to the railroad only a few properties in the district have reached a point in development that would class them as shippers but work is going on with hammer and drill compressed air and steam and the number is being increased every week copper and other valuable minerals have been and are still being discovered in a dis brict that is thirty miles wide and sixty miles long there has been found in paying quantities gold platinum silver copper nickel zinc lead and iron specimens of rock have been picked up from the surface that when held over a piece of paper and gently tapped witha with a p pocket bocket knife yielded a shower of gold some of the particles as large as a grain of wheat I 1 have before me an assay report on some ore samples taken from a prospect hole bole showing values of gold and copper making a total value of 1662 per ton and this from less than ten feet below the surface on a fissure vein feet long with regard to tha rare mineral platinum specimens of ee carloads of matte shipped from the grand encampment smelter gave cave returns of 67 pr per cent copper and ounces ot of platinum a total oi of a little over per ton repeated tests of the ore asit as it is delivered at the smelter show that it all carries platinum in quantities varying from one and a half to seven ounces to the ton it is not platinum gold nor silver however but copper and the high percentage percenta ge of it that the ores of this district carry that has brought prominent capitalists of the united states and europe to invest here I 1 recall the names of but a few among the number rockefeller dangler and other stockholders of the standard oil company george E west and associates of the national biscuit trust henry C hedges perry S heath and others of political fame sir seaton carr M P and associates of london england there are others interested here from denver colorado springs chicago boston new york st paul and omaha W E parnell M E of northern michigan william weston M E of london england dalys experts from montana darks clarks experts from arizona brooks graves et al of denver state geologists from a number of states and other authorities of lesser note have in the last few months examined the district and added their testimony regarding 6 its phenomenal richness predicting that within a few years it will rival the production of any known copper district in the world |