Drilling in the Rattlesnakes
Speculators on the Knudson ranch pause drilling as they hunt for a gas strike deep beneath the Benton County soil.
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.
In the belief that they are within striking distance of gas, the company drilling in the well on the Knudson ranch out in the Rattlesnakes have ceased operations for a time, until the water in the well can be cased off. There is in the neighborhood of 400 feet of water now that would greatly interfere with the efficiency of the well, were gas to be encountered. It is presumed that it will take about a week to case off the water, when the drilling will be immediately resumed. The hole is down now close to 700 feet, and as gas in the old well was encountered at 705 feet, the present operators feel they are reaching a depth when the bottom of their well may be blown out any minute.
“The present operators feel they are reaching a depth when the bottom of their well may be blown out any minute.”
This early pursuit of energy resources in the Rattlesnake Hills reflects the long-standing, often speculative, history of fossil fuel and resource extraction in the Mid-Columbia region.
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