The Rattlesnake Oil Fever
A speculative frenzy grips the region as residents flock to file claims in hopes of striking it rich.
To the filing of oil claims there seems to be no end and still the stakes out in the Rattlesnake districts continue to multiply. The fever has spread beyond Benton county and now Pasco has it. Engineer T. J. Wright spent yesterday staking out claims for 24 Pasco men who are willing to gamble the location price on the future possibilities of the oil fields. Two of the recent Kennewick filings are of interest as one put the K-Brand on a quarter section and the other sounds like the big Y and is known as the Fruitgrowers’ placer claim. The K-Brand claim was filed by employes of the Kennewick Fruit Exchange and the latter by employes of the Kennewick District Fruitgrowers’ association.
“The fever has spread beyond Benton county and now Pasco has it.”
The 'Rattlesnake Oil Fever' of 1914 highlights the long history of speculative resource extraction in the Columbia Basin, mirroring modern boom-and-bust cycles that periodically reshape the region's economy.
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