The Promise of Horse Heaven Oil
After finding significant gas deposits, local boosters and out-of-state experts bet on striking it rich in the hills.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The Horse Heaven wheat farmers are to have the services of a government dry-farming expert, while simultaneously investigating the potential for oil. Mr. Pitts, an expert and manager of a Wyoming oil company, is examining the property today. When asked about the probability of striking oil after gas had been discovered, Mr. Pitt said that in Wyoming they had never yet drilled a dry well in which gas had been struck. 'A flow of natural gas such as has been found in this well is almost a sure indication of underlying deposits of oil,' said Mr. Pitts. A preliminary investigation showed that the well is now discharging 312,000 cubic feet of gas per 24 hours, an equivalent of 10 tons of coal. Mr. Klein, involved in the investigation, added: 'We are not oil men ourselves, nor are we promoting any wildcat proposition. If it proves worth developing, we have sufficient capital to do it.'
“A flow of natural gas such as has been found in this well is almost a sure indication of underlying deposits of oil.”
This reflects the recurring 'boom' mentality of the early 20th century, where every natural indicator was viewed as a potential ticket to industrial wealth. While the Horse Heaven Hills remained agricultural, the hope for an oil bonanza shows how eager early residents were to transform the local landscape into a regional power hub.
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