NEWS OF 150 YEARS AGO
September/October 1860
From The Missouri Democrat, Wednesday, September 5, 1860.
THE OIL FEVER IN PENNSYLVANIA—THE GREAT TIDEOUT WELL.—We are permitted to make the following extract from a letter written under date of “Franklin, Venango county, Pa., Aug. 18th,” to a friend in this city:
“The oil excitement in this section of the State is very great. The whole region is swarming with “oil diggers.” Some lucky individuals have made independent fortunes in three months, and no one need lose much if he invests prudently. There is a large number of wells in operation in this neighborhood—some of which are worth form $100 to $1,000 a day, clear of all expense. You would scarcely believe me, were I to tell you all I have seen. You have, no doubt, read accounts from here, and did not credit them; but I assure you the half has not been told. I traveled up Oil Creek and in the oil regions about Tideout last week. On Oil Creek I saw one well that had been struck eight days previous to my visit, was running spontaneously from forty to fifty barrels of oil per day, and it is still running at the same rate. Farther up the creek, at Titusville, is a number of good wells, one of which, but a few days in operation, was pumping 125 barrels per day. You will hardly believe this; but I have still better, on yesterday week a vein was struck at Tideout, from which gushed forth over 2,000 gallons of oil per hour. On the next day another was struck about four hundred feet from it, on an island, which was almost as good. Now, what do you think of a well yielding sixty barrels of oil per hour, worth $10 a barrel, clear of freight, &c.—Chicago Times.
