American Flag flying !

Beautiful scene with a "Y" tree.

Sometimes you see a modern type derrick.

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Oklahoma Oil History

(from Sunday Oklahoma dated April 16, 1998)
written by Ellie Sutter

In the history book of Oklahoma as Indian Territory and as a state, several pages have the corners turned down to mark important events. One of the first pages in the state's history recounts the Land Run of April 22, 1889.

Robert Gregory, writing in "Oil in Oklahoma," quotes the Kansas City Star's report of that eventful day as "the scene in the great drama of western civilization and development, probably without parallel in the history of America, if not of the world."

But it took author Edna Ferber's "Cimarron" to put the Land Run on the big screen of the mind's eye.

"It was history made in an hour. Over the hills they came, out of the woods, and across the prairie. They came from Texas and Arkansas, Colorado and Missouri. They came on foot, by God, all the way from Iowa, Nebraska; they came in buggies and wagons and on horseback and mules, prairie schooners and oxcarts and carriages. It was like the Fourth of July or Judgment Day. The militia was lined up along the boundaries. No one was allowed to set foot on the new lands until noon April 22, at the firing of the guns, two-million acres of land were to be given away for the grabbing."

Oklahoma City was born that day, records show.

A Chronology of Oklahoma Oil The arrival of the Five Civilized Tribes brings written accounts of oil seeps in Oklahoma. The Plains Indians, already had been using the oil springs for centuries to treat rheumatism and other chronic illness. April 15,1897 - Oklahoma's first commercial oil well, Nellie Johnston No. 1 blows in Bartlesville. June 25, 1901 - Drillers strike oil at Red Fork. Headlines proclaim "Geyser of Oil Spouts at Red Fork" and "Oil Well Gusher Fifteen Feet High," setting off a stampede to Oklahoma. Nov. 22, 1905 - Oil discovered on Ida E. Glenn's farm, 10 miles south of Tulsa, ushering in the state's first major oil field and launching Oklahoma's petroleum industry. 1912-1928 - Discoveries of major oil fields in Cushing, Healdton, Seminole and Oklahoma City. August 1931 - Gov. William "Alfalfa Bill" Murray attempts to raise the price of crude by declaring martial law and calling out the National Guard to state oil fields to enforce a cutback in production. 1940s - The demands of World War 11 bring recovery as Oklahoma oil producers contribute to the war effort. Drilling declines in the 1950s when federal price controls are placed on natural gas. 1973 - Arab oil embargo and associated energy crisis bring a new oil boom. Drilling rigs reach an all-time peak in early 1982. 1982 - Oil prices decline, bringing a bust that forces many producers out of business. Rural towns are hit particularly hard by the downturn, and throughout the decade many small town Main Streets struggle for survival. 1999 - The state Legislature convenes a special session to grant oil producers tax relief after prices dropped to as low as $8 per barrel.

Oil is found under the State Capital Building

Gregory noted there was a shortage of water in the new city because there were only two sources: the North Canadian River and a small, spring-fed well. A cup of well water sold for 5 cents, Gregory said.

Soon, a man was hired to dig a water well. He came well-recommended from the oil fields of Pennsylvania, where the first commercial oil well was brought in by Col. Edwin Laurencine Drake at Titusville on Aug. 27,1859.

(For history buffs, a replica of Col. Drake's No. 1 stands at the southeast corner of Interstate 35 and SE 25. It was built in 1982 to house a restaurant.)

In 1890, the man hired to dig a water well for Oklahoma City began drilling for oil at NW 4 and Santa Fe. Unfortunately, or fortunately for the city's 12,000 residents, he struck water. But in the drilling process, he had ignited oil fever.

For the next 40 years, dry well after dry well was drilled. Then, on Dec. 4, 1928, oil was discovered in Oklahoma City.

The headline of an extra published that day by The Oklahoma City Times shouted: "CITY WELL HURLS 'LIQUID GOLD' HIGH OVER OIL DERRICK."

This first well belonged to the Indian Territory Illuminating Oil Co. (ITIO), a subsidiary of Cities Service Oil Co. and Foster Petroleum. It was drilled northeast of the intersection of SE 59 and Bryant. It was called No. 1 Discovery Well, and during its life, the well produced more than 1 million barrels of oil. At today's prices, that would be more than $12 million.

Records of the well's first 27 days of production show 110,496 barrels of oil. At that time, oil brought $1.56 a barrel. More wells were drilled, and soon there were 53 producing wells in the Oklahoma City field.

Take time to enjoy one more ride
around the lake
with an oil well in the background.

For more oil well photos...........More Oil Wells

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