Show Green River Oil Fields in Wayne Utah By C. A. Peet in Salt Lake Mining Review Hearing of the oil discoveries in the Green River Wayne I was engaged by E. J. and H. G. Snyder of Salt Lake to make a trip into this The object in going was to the if favorable conditions to locate for them any good prospective ground in the latter part of February of this year a start was made from Green on the Denver Rio Grande The plan was to proceed by row boat down the Green river to a point twenty miles north of the junction of the Grand near the head of Stillwater There we were to be met by Lou who was to be our He was to come overland from Hanksville with saddle horses and pack and take us up to the oil From there we were to return to Hanksville and back to Green River Personnel and The river party consisted of N. a mining man from A. I. another Nevada who had taken up a land claim on the and Our equipment consisted of an flat-bottomed row fitted with a rude mast and to be used when supplies and provisions for a three weeks' and several sacks of grain for our which were to be used on our journey In all we had about one thousand pounds cargo together with made a good and almost taxed the capacity of our the While on the river we only traveled during a start being made about 8 a. tying up at some convenient place at noon for pur Then we went on again until about p. when we camped for the The estimated distances traveled each day were from twenty-five to thirty with two of lis rowing all the and one at the This method was necessary to keep the boat in the deepest much we were sure to to our on the almost invisible and thus lose much valuable time in extricating which was no easy considering the weight of our The Trip Down the For the first twenty-five miles down the river the trip was the scenery being much the same as that around Green River The in this has many rapids which required considerable hard work to successfully and many times our craft Below the mouth of the San the river becomes still and with many The greatest danger here is from which seem to bob up in almost inconceivable and a sharp lookout had to be kept to avoid Here the river enters Labyrinth which appropriately As one looks ahead it is impossible to determine the next course of the river It makes so many devious its canyons alternately widening and the immense size of the canyons entering that one is lost in bewilderment at beauty and ever-changing scenes which present Towards the end of the second day about fifty miles down the we came to the This isan immense bow in the river about ten miles in which almost completes a But for a distance of about the waters would come thus enclosing an At this point there are immense water-power A a quarter of a mile in through this would deliver the entire flow of the with a total fall of about thirty-five This power will surely be utilized at some future the only hindrance at present being its and the great distance the power will have to be The end of the third day us at what is known as the so called from the mains of an old fort to Tie on the high bluff some back from the This was probably the rendezvous some ancient tribe of j occupies a- commanding position and overlooks the river for in each At the base oi the cliff upon which the fort we found the remains oi many stone built up der the overhanging Cliff Dwellers' These are mostly very low and look more lihi granaries or store houses that By digging around base of the walls one is liable tt uncover broken pieces and corn cobs but aside from thi we found nothing of Fine Farming On the bottoms' we found what is considered to be the most fertile and productive soil to be seen It is a silt and loan left from higher levels of and in these are inaccessible to sheep and there a rank growth grass six feet or more in height being dead at the time of our looked not unlike fields of ripened These are almost level and ideally 1 for Being except by question of marketing the product of here becomes a which explains why this fertile region has not been occupied On the morning of the fourth day we reached and our river voyaged We waited here two days for This time wi spent in trying to explore Bom of the Cliff houses which abound in that Owing to the fact that we had no long ropes or or necessary ve were able to get into few of These we our had already been e and everything of intern or taken Only pieces of broken pottery re ed our Early on morning after Chaffin's we started for the oil Green River Oil The center of this field tf about ten miles west of Gre and a little south of the ter of Wayne m ff J state and government maps as the cliffs are all in the red characteristic of the which extends southward i Tto and beyond the Colorado into which the Grand Canyon been cut and b The thickness of these immense strata cannot be from an examination in the immediate vicinity of the oil field but at that point they are more feet almost portions of the comparatively coarse-grained easily At points the telus the walls rise for a thousand feet more to the which is Standing here Wone can look for miles and not see break in the although is cut in many places by with M The oil sands are found in the bottom of these where have cut the lowest levels of the sandstones in the Fossil shells found in this determine its age to be upper which rock yields li the coal and oil of this m Oil has been found in the covers an area of approximately twenty by twenty in about ten different The occurrence of th oil I. is in small where it slowly 1 comes from the flows a short and is At some of these mounds been built up to a height of eight or ten due to the from the oil and to the sand has blown upon it and to the sticky 1 Owing to its rapid evaporation I was unable to procure a good sample of the As it comes the ground it is and comparatively I The characteristic 1 odor of petroleum is noticeable t for long distances around these The field may be for into two districts the east and the These districts are separated by a high sandstone wall about feet and in places not more than feet wide on the In the western district oil is found in Happy which is a to the Dirty or Fre- Here the canyon has just cut into the top of the oil- bearing and has only exposed the for three or four Lack of Up to the present time nothing been done in the way of although the district has possibilities which only await the expert It is my opinion that the showings of petroleum in the district are very and warrant the expenditure in the sinking of several With this the I is destined to become very Should this prove to be the the question of marketing the product presents In order to do this a pipe line will be At present the nearest railroad point is Green about fifty miles and the construction of a pipe line in that country is no small once on the the oil will run by gravity to the railroad with only one bad is at the San Rafael A Little A little history of the country might be Up to six or seven years ago this section was infested with thieves and who made this locality their Owing to its inaccessibility and distance from this locality became an ideal hiding and was known as Once there a. man was safe from During the time of their occupation it was unsafe for anyone but themselves to enter This danger kept prospectors which explains why the oil occurrence has been known for only four or five v Lou Chaffin or was among the first to discover these oil and he has been instrumental in attracting the attention of the few people who have been He owns interest in some of the best in the but has purposely left thousands of acres open for just to the other fellow a Among those who have been attracted to the field and who have confidence in its are N. Coyle of C. W. Lane and the Grutt brothers of and and of Salt The return from the oil fields was made overland via Hanks-ville and Green It is a two days' trip over fairly good roads and trails to about forty-eight miles almost due The first day's trip brings one to the the old headquarters' Here are found the remains of several corral and water last battle between and the authorities was held and the bullet marks are discernible on the rocks behind which he barricaded The only water within a of twenty-five miles is found at this which is of excellent The trip from the to Green River station was and we finally arrived there after being out nearly three glad to get back to civilization C. A. Salt Lake |