Butler County Genealogy Trails Kansas Susan B. Allen Bio

Butler County’s Eighty Years ~ 1855-1935

by Jessie Perry Stratford

A History of Butler County Biographical Sketches and Portraits with Foreword by Rolla A. Clymer

1919; automobile owners bought over $500,000 worth of tires and tubes. Among other statistics of the year were: Total value of school property, $540,000; total value of church property, $195,000 (not tripled); $100,000 post office building. A Chamber of Commerce Bulletin, issued in mid-summer of 1920 states: “We are building a $175,000 Junior High School building; issued bonds to the amount of $100,000 for a Soldiers and Sailors Memorial; and should see the completion of a new modern hotel and theatre, costing $350,000, and various other improvements.” Which, in fact, did develop during the two succeeding years.

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OIL IN BUTLER COUNTY 1878-1935

Four thousand and one hundred oil wells (dry and productive) have been drilled in Butler County.

Total production of oil in Butler County, up to November 1, 1934, is 232,900,900 barrels. Value: Figured at an average of two dollars per barrel---$465,801,800.

Oil production in Butler County since and including 1929---32,900,900 barrels. Up to 1929---200,000,000.

Average total production of wells—five to seven barrels.

Average production for 1934---5.4 barrels per well.

Wells drilled (dry and producing) in Butler County since and including 1929---362.

In November 1934 there were 2,701 producing wells in Butler County. Pools and number of producing wells: El Dorado Field—1,770 wells; Benton—2 wells; Elbing—71; Fox-Bush—213; Leon—27; Smock-Sluss—48; Weaver—8; Augusta—264; Douglass—21; Gordon-Shaffer—76; Keighley—70; Potwin—44; Young—18; Hazlett, north of Potwin—4; Haverhill—65.

Oil is a magic word—bringing to mankind visions of wealth, adventure, progress. The famous Drake well drilled in August of 1859 near Titusville, Pennsylvania, ushered in a new age and a new industry.

Early municipalities of Butler County found their growth seriously retarded because of the scarcity of fuel for manufacturing purposes. Coal was the chief fuel, the coal fields of southeastern Kansas the only source of supply.

In 1878 the first company was organized in Butler County for the purpose of drilling for oil. A location was made southwest of El Dorado through the aid of a spiritualistic medium and a town was started. Optimistically, it was named Oil City. A few business houses were erected, drilling proceeded to a depth of 200 feet and then the available money being exhausted, ceased. Gradually the town disappeared. A 900-foot well sunk in Riverside, El Dorado, in 1882, produced an artesian flow of salt water. This prompted the operation of a salt factory for a time. A deep well was sunk near Potwin by Charles W. Potwin (1887) but was a failure. Geologists and veteran oil and gas men held to the almost universal opinion that no oil and gas existed west of the Flint Hills.

On March 1, 1903, Wise and Powell spudded a test on the Blankenship ranch fifteen miles east of El Dorado, using manila rope cable. The hole was abandoned at 2,050 feet with a light show of oil. Fifteen years later, after the great El Dorado field had been brought in, another test was drilled only three-quarters of a mile from the original test and oil was discovered.

At Augusta a group of business men and farmers organized the Augusta Oil, Gas, Mining and Prospecting Co. and started operations in 1904 near the junction of the Santa Fe and Frisco railroads at Augusta. Water trouble at 1,335 feet forced abandonment of the hole. A second test brought in a good flow of gas at 1,415 feet. This is recorded as the first discovery of gas west of the Flint Hills. The well was deepened to 1,830 feet and then it, too was abandoned. The slight showing of oil at the bottom of the hole was not of enough importance to encourage further exploration. The Augusta corporation surrendered its franchise to the city which voted bonds and took up the search. In the meantime a deep well test was sunk south of Rosalia on a location selected by S. J. Hatch, an authority on

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oil and gas geology. The drilling company, a Kansas City concern, abandoned the test at a depth of 2,100 feet. Augusta began a thorough study of all the geological information obtainable at that time and discovered the well-defined geological break south and east of the city where its gas wells were finally located.

In 1907, the Wichita Natural Gas Company, later to become the Empire Gas and Fuel Company, drilled two test wells, one southeast and one southwest of Augusta. The same year another Wichita concern drilled a test to 1,600 feet in Bloomington Township. It was a failure. Tests also were made at Benton, El Dorado and Douglass without success. Three wells drilled by the Wichita Natural Gas Co. in the Augusta field, near the city wells, supplied gas for El Dorado.

In 1910, the Skaer Oil and Gas Company began to develop its leaseholds, after which the Wichita Natural secured leases and began intensive development. This company also made the first deep test for oil on the F. Varner.

Late in 1909, or early in 1910, the city of El Dorado unsuccessfully drilled a well on the Holderman tract and a second municipal well, located in the city park on the east bank of Walnut River was put down to the depth of 1695 feet during the fall of 1910 or early in 1911. This, too, was unsuccessful.

EL DORADO EMPLOYS GEOLOGIST

In June, 1914, the city of El Dorado consulted Dr. Erasmus Haworth, then state geologist, and employed him to make a field examination of the surrounding territory and suggest a location for a third well. It was spudded in on the Fowler lease, four miles west of El Dorado, and drilled to 2,650 feet by August 1915 without finding commercial production.

Such are the chances of oil! This well, located high in El Dorado anticline, in the heart of what later developed into the El Dorado field, later was surrounded on the west and north by wells which came in but a location removed from it for initial productions of several hundred barrels. During the drilling of this city well the Wichita Natural Gas Company made a detailed geological study of the region and leased thousands of acres. After the well was abandoned this company took over the city’s 790 acres of leases for $800, plus stipulations that the company should drill a well at least 3,000 feet on one of its own leases and if that was dry to drill a second well on one of the original city leases. If oil or gas in commercial quantities was discovered El Dorado was to be reimbursed its expense in drilling the Fowler test.

STAPLETON IS FIRST WELL

In September 1, 1915 the Gas Company made a location on the Stapleton land just west of Oil Hill and drilling commenced on September 29. Within a week a good show of oil was found in a sand at 549-557 feet and commercial production estimated at 50 to 200 barrels a day was found at 660-678 feet. The El Dorado field was in!

At least seven wells were completed in the 660 foot sand by the end of 1915. Stapleton No. 1 was drilled deeper and in December the Stapleton pay zone was reached at 2,465 feet. After 46 more feet were penetrated a production of 175 barrels were developed.

FIRST EXTENSION OF FIELD

The first operations naturally centered near the discovery well but in December a 50 barrel pumper in the 600 foot sand was completed on the Linn lease. This extended the field two miles southwest. In February 1916, the Sunflower Oil Company (later sold to the Sinclair Oil Company) developed a 100 barrel well on the Adams farm and by the end of August of the same year had completed about 50 shallow wells and one Stapleton pay-zone well.

The next development was to the east of Stapleton No. 1 on the Wilson property, where in April and May, A. L. Derby et a., in their well No. 1 encountered a pay sand at 2,650 feet. This well was rated good for between 500 and 1,000 barrels per day. To the south, a well on the Boyer lease brought in during July for 150 barrels at 1,650 feet gave an additional two mile extension to the field. At several locations at depths ranging from 850 to 1,450 feet gas in paying quantities was discovered in porous limestone but not in any definitely recognized sand.

By June 1916 there were about 150 producing gas wells in the Augusta field and 50 oil wells. By the end of the year the El Dorado field had about 600 produc-

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Ing wells and a daily output of more than 12,000 barrels. Most of these wells were shallow and located within two and one-half miles of the Stapleton Discovery. Prospecting rigs were so numerous that the field had the appearance of a forst.

SPECTACULAR PERIOD OF DEVELOPMENT

The next year (1917) marked the spectacular period of the El Dorado field’s development. Late in February the Wilson Zone Pool was opened when the 600 foot sand of its first well proved productive and by March 23 this well reached the Stapleton pay zone with a product of 350 barrels.

Then came the discovery and development of Towanda Pool. In March the Alpine Oil Company obtained a 250 barrel well on the Ralston lease. Well No. 2 on the same lease came in for 500 barrels. At the same time the Trapshooter Oil Company (later sold to the Eureka Oil Company) brought in a well on the H. M. Williams and W. W Walker lease for about the same production as Ralston No. 2.

EL DORADO FIELD’S FIRST GUSHER

But in its second Williams and Walker lease well, completed early in June, the Trapshooters company brought in El Dorado’s first gusher. They were not prepared for it, but had expected it, and because of inadequate tankage facilities its initial production can only be estimated. The figures ran from 6,000 to 24,000 barrels a day with 14,000 a good average to take.

The Trapshooter well did not gush in the popular sense of the word. It did not shoot high over the crown blocks and spray the surrounding territory with oil. Instead it flowed a gentle, continuous stream. In September of the same year the Gypsy Oil Company brought in No. 5 Shumway in the same section. This well started out with 18,000 barrels and produced two and a quarter million barrels before it quit flowing at the end of 222 days. According to records, this Shumway lease of the Gypsy, 160 acres in extent, averaged a total production of 50,000 barrels an acre. In contrast to Shumway 5 was the Empire Gas and Fuel Company’s Shriver No. 3. Brought in during October 1917 it flowed 144 barrels in nine minutes, a rate of 23,000 barrels a day. Closed for a few days while storage was being prepared, it flowed salt water copiously when reopened and despite all efforts only a small production later was obtained. The Smock pool, which is distinct from the main El Dorado field, was discovered in March of 1917 by the Haverhill Petroleum Co.

UNIQUE HISTORY OF KOOGLER LEASES

By May, 1917, the El Dorado field was again extended south when the Page-Lewis Oil Co. brought in Koogler No. 1. These Koogler leases have a unique history. From the time of that initial well to the present, the Koogler (Marion Koogler Atkinson) property has proved a steady producer. It has character, stamped by dependability. None of the 20,000-barrels-for-one-day about it. But rather, a steady, day-after-day, year-after-year production. According to figures given out by the Empire Company 104 wells have been drilled on this property and over four million barrels of oil have been produced. The company has faith that it will still be producing in 1950.

The next important extension was toward the northeast when the Theta Oil Company’s L. W. Robinson No. 1 came in during August for 1,900 barrels. The same month the Sluss pool was drilled in by Patton, Dingee and Davis, while the McK Oil Co. carried the field still further south with a producer on the Nuttle lease.

The year 1917 was thus a year of extension and by its end the limits of production were largely, though not completely defined. During a part of September, 1917 production of the El Dorado field was rated at over 100,000 barrels a day.

PEAK PRODUCTION IN BUTLER

The year 1918 proved one of development, drilling being principally on territory proved in 1917. An eastward extension was made on the Robinson dome and the year marked peak production for Butler, the area yielding 36 ½ million barrels, an average of 98,821 barrels per day.

By the end of 1929 more than 200 million barrels of oil had been marketed from Butler County wells.

Following the initial development of the great El Dorado and Augusta oil districts, exploration has proved the existence of considerable quantities of oil

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Elsewhere in Butler County. One of the most important of these is the Elbing pool. Others are the Potwin pool, the Fox-Bush pool, the Leon pool and the Blankenship pool. In Feburary, 1928 the Empire Oil and Refining Company completed Cranston No. 1, its discovery well in the Haverhill district. At the present time (November 1934) it has 65 wells producing in that section.

Since the development of the oil fields most of the gas produced has been used for development and thus much of its production has not been metered. About three-fourths of all the gas wells, however, are owned by the Empire and records kept for these indicate that between May 1916 and March 1918, the total production from 69 wells was 6,660 millions of cubic feet. Decline in production of gas has been rapid and the quality of most of the gases in the region is below average. The Butler county gas fields at the present time are of little commercial value.

OIL PRODUCTION AND REFINERIES

Oil production and from it the refineries, constitute El Dorado’s greatest assets. There are a large number of firms operating or having headquarters in El Dorado but the principal ones are the Skelly Oil Company, the Empire Oil and Refining Company and the El Dorado Refining Company.

The Skelly refinery, the largest in the state and one of the most modern and up-to-date in the nation is located on the southern edge of El Dorado. It was incorporated as the Midland Refining Company and its stills were first fired on July 30, 1917. Since that time the plant has been in continuous operation. To obtain production for it the Inland Oil Company was formed purely as a producing and crude oil transportation concern.

On October 2, 1919, W. G. Skelly formed the Skelly Oil Company as a producing company and in 1923 its various subsidiaries, including the Midland Refining Company and the Inland Oil Company were definitely linked together and became the Skelly Oil Company. This company has had a tremendous part in the general prosperity of El Dorado and Butler County. By 1930 the Skelly refinery had a daily capacity of 25,000 barrels and employed approximately 1,200 workmen. The payroll annually of the refining division amounts to more than $1,000,000. In 1928 the Skelly company began the production of Skelgas, a real natural gas, compressed and purified, that brings gas service to homes and farms where it is not otherwise obtainable. Since its inception, Skelly has grown from a comparatively small institution to one of the largest of the independent oil companies.

Empire Oil and Refining Company maintains its offices in Oil Hill, west of El Dorado, in a company-owned community. In the scope of its activities in Butler it is a producing company, its refineries being located elsewhere, but in Butler Count the Empire holds approximately 56, 397 acres of land under lease and nearly half of this is in production. The company had its inception as the Wichita Natural Gas Company whose part in the early history of Butler County oil already has been traced. It drilled the discovery well of the El Dorado field and through the years since, has kept pace with the oil development of the county. How it has benefited Butler County directly in sharing the oil wealth it has tapped is told graphically by its royalty figures. From 1916 to 1929 inclusive, royalty oil produced for land owners of Butler reached the total of 14,556,000 barrels with a market value of $26,516,000. During the same period the Empire has paid out to employees $27,000,000 while its Butler County taxes for the same time amounted to $2,400,000.

The El Dorado Refining Company is a duplicate, except on a smaller scale of the Skelly company. Its officers are Charles G. Yankey, president, Wichita; Robert H. Hazlett, vice-president; Robert H. Bradford, treasurer; and T. A. Helling, general manager, the latter three being residents of El Dorado. The principal owners are Mr. Hazlett and Mr. Bradford and there in ownership and in operation it is wholly an El Dorado institution and one which has tended throughout recent years to stabilize the industrial conditions in the community, generously contributing to the general welfare and prosperity of the citizenship. As a business institution in its class it is surpassed in volume only by the activities of the Skelly company, one of the largest in the Mid-Continent. The original plant of the company was started in 1916, shortly after the discovery of oil in this county. The initial investment was about $40,000, but today, the plant and its connecting properties total far in excess

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of $1,500,000. One of the big holdings of the company is the fleet of 300 tank cars, which delivers the company’s products throughout that vast territory, known as the Central States—Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas. All departments of the company, traffic, sales, production, purchasing and other departments have headquarters here. The greater portion of the crude oil for the refinery is obtained from producers in Butler, Sedgwick, Greenwood, Cowley counties and other Kansas fields. More than one hundred people are employed at the local plant and at the headquarters offices their annual wages totaling approximately $300,000.

The El Dorado Refining Company, in order to assure itself of a constant outlet for its products, has, within the past few years, acquired the controlling interest in the K-T Oil Corporation, the latter company having distribution through bulk plants and service stations throughout the State of Kansas, Northern Oklahoma and Eastern Colorado. The K-T Company maintains its executive offices at El Dorado and the officers of the corporation are Robert H. Bardford, president; T. A. Helling, vice-president; Robet H. Hazlett, treasurer, and Charles G. Yankey, secretary. The officers are the same in the K-T Company as in the Refining Company. This company has added considerably to the business welfare of El Dorado. Since the moving of the executive offices to El Dorado it has brought approximately twenty additional families to the town.

The K-T Oil Corporation is an old company, having been established in Kansas about fifteen years ago. It constantly is expanding and its facilities, adding additional outlets which create a market for El Reco products of The El Dorado Refining Company.

REFINERIES AT POTWIN AND AUGUSTA

Vickers Refining Company, located at Potwin, has a daily capacity of approximately 3,000 barrels.

This company’s general offices are in Wichita, as also are the general offices of the White Eagle Refining Company whose plant, located at Augusta, has a capacity estimated at 10,000 barrels daily.

As the El Dorado field has grown older, new problems have been faced. Through acidization of wells, the limestone formation is eaten and a greater production of oil is obtained. During the year 1934, acidization of Butler County wells has added materially to production.