tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953008377950396317.post8391794258133843951..comments2024-03-28T06:19:50.620-07:00Comments on SearchReSearch: Wednesday Search Challenge (Dec 29, 2010): First productive oil well in California?Dan Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13603209997260423532noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953008377950396317.post-6549338790765114182011-01-01T16:39:25.546-08:002011-01-01T16:39:25.546-08:00productive for who? For the owners? For the citize...productive for who? For the owners? For the citizens? For the actual inhabitants that will may have to truggle against some health issues maybe?simonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15215056414301567499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953008377950396317.post-41874073369600178472010-12-30T12:02:45.471-08:002010-12-30T12:02:45.471-08:00Daniel,
I have two possible answers.
When: 1865 ...Daniel,<br /><br />I have two possible answers.<br /><br />When: 1865 / 1876<br />Who: Union Mattole Oil Company / Charles Alexander Mentry (California Star Oil Works)<br />Where: on the North Fork of the Mattole River near Petrolia (formerly, New Jerusalem and Petrolea) an unincorporated community in Humboldt County, California / near Mentryville in Pico Canyon, District Newhall, Los Angeles County, California<br /><br /><br />The answers depend on the definition of “productive" oil well or “commercial" oil well.<br /><br />My search strategy:<br /><br />Because I wanted to find a reliable, high quality piece of information, I started my search with the ext:pdf qualifier. My search strategy was: [first productive oil well drilled in California ext:pdf]<br /><br />The first hit brought me to a document from the California Department of Conservation with the title:”Oil and Gas Production History in California” (ftp://ftp.consrv.ca.gov/pub/oil/history/History_of_Calif.pdf).<br />The text says: “the Stanford Brothers refined and sold the first shipment of oil from the Mattole well, the first oil produced and refined from a California well. Reportedly, the refined “burning oil” sold for $1.40 per gallon.”<br /><br />But reading on in this document I found: “However some development continued, the most important in Pico Canyon near Newhall. Here in 1876, well “Pico” 4 was completed, producing 30 barrels of oil a day from a depth of 300 feet. The well, the first truly commercial oil well in the state…..”<br /><br /><br />Other links when searching for [first productive oil well drilled in California mattole|matolle|”Pico Canyon”]:<br /><br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrolia,_California<br />http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM102X_Californias_First_Drilled_Oil_Wells<br />http://img.groundspeak.com/waymarking/8aa1167e-d5b7-488d-ba73-295fc1c74277.jpg<br />http://www.priweb.org/ed/pgws/history/signal_hill/signal_hill.html<br />http://www.wspa.org/downloads/2006%20Annual%20Report.pdf<br />http://www.elsmerecanyon.com/picocanyon/history/history.htm<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pico_Canyon_Oilfield<br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/tkksummers/2487986297/<br />http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2415/2487986297_8b5dfb2f6c_o.jpg<br />http://www.scvhistory.com/mentryville/<br /><br />To be honest, I'm not sure which of the two results is the answer to your questions.<br /><br />Regards,<br />HansHanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16362447090339269962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953008377950396317.post-91216256084637757722010-12-30T10:34:44.892-08:002010-12-30T10:34:44.892-08:00As I said, the first answer may (or may not) be th...As I said, the first answer may (or may not) be the right one. One reason to doubt it is that the phrase "California's first productive well was drilled by the Union Matolle Company in California's Central Valley." can be found in lots of hits (including some in Russian), suggesting that the original text has been copied and recopied so many times that its source is unclear. This is one of those times when checking the source is really necessary!Dan Russellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13603209997260423532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953008377950396317.post-38256438098446039532010-12-30T09:26:16.355-08:002010-12-30T09:26:16.355-08:00I'm a bit lazy this week, so here's my qui...I'm a bit lazy this week, so here's my quick and dirty "good enough" answer. I did a straight Google search using the terms: <br /><br />history oil production california<br /><br />The top hit took me to a site from the Paleontological Research Institution with the history of oil in California - http://www.priweb.org/ed/pgws/history/signal_hill/signal_hill.html.<br /><br />Using that as my sole source (I mentioned I'm feeling lazy today), I'd throw out this exerpt as a quick answer:<br /><br />"In 1865, only 6 years after "Colonel" Edwin Drake's monumental discovery in Pennsylvania, California's first productive well was drilled by the Union Matolle Company in California's Central Valley."bavahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06604201100380134104noreply@blogger.com