by Paul R. Spitzzeri
Continuing on with our deep diving into early Orange County oil history and the 1880s boomtown of Petrolia, located in Soquel Canyon, just east of what became the Olinda oil field in today’s city of Brea, we head into the summer of 1883, not long after Burdette Chandler, who partnered with William R. Rowland in opening the Puente oil field to the west in modern Rowland Heights, and J.G. Bower acquired former public land for petroleum prospecting.
Apparently, with word spreading about the Petrolia project, a group of Santa Ana investors leapt into action at nearby Brea Canyon with the Los Angeles Times of 17 June reporting that eight men from the future Orange County seat founded a firm and “have an engine and a complete set of tools which will be moved to the canyon next week, when operations will commence.”
Ten days later, the Los Angeles Herald, which was so enthusiastic a booster of Petrolia that it appears to have acquired interests in what was likely Telegraph Canyon—renamed Herald Canyon by the newspaper, recorded that Chandler went to the Angel City “on a flying visit” to inform the paper that his oil well was sunk “fifty feet deep, and yielding oil and gas” so that “boring will go forward actively.”
In its 24 July edition, the paper commented on “Oil Developments” that,
In the new region of Petrolia, above Anaheim, the new oil well which is being bored by Mr. Snow a short distance east of the Chandler & Bower well, oil has been found in small quantities at a depth of but fifty-five feet. The indications are good for a fine well, for Messrs. Chandler, Snow & Co.
In the latter well, a “conductor hole was sunk eighty feet before reaching firm rock to bore in” with the tools on site readied for a hole a foot in diameter, while it was added that “oil continues to ooze out of the side of the conductor hole, accompanied by a flow of hydrogen gas, a sure indication of a reservoir of oil below.”
Combined with activity at San Fernando in modern Santa Clarita, north of Los Angeles, where a 200-barrel producer was recently brought in and three new wells sunk, the Herald informed readers that “there are good opportunities to sink wells or secure claims of Messrs. Chandler & Bower, who are hard at work in developing that important section of the country.”
The next report from that paper was in its edition of 21 September with Chandler bringing information that a well, bored by a man named Snow, was down just over 200 feet, while the well with Bower was pit dug some 75 feet “without being timbered before drilling was begun.” When the work got to not more over 100 feet, however, “the little earthquake that shivered through the earth last week, dislodged some rocks and earth from the sides of the pit and tumbled into the well, so that it will have to be carefully cleaned out before drilling can be resumed.” Moreover, “the bit was in pebble sand, of the real oil-bearing kind, which is a very encouraging sign.”
The 3 October issue of the Times linked Brea Canyon to Soquel Canyon under the general heading of Petrolia by announcing that “Messrs. Turner & Co., of Santa Ana, who have been boring for oil in Petrolia district, a few miles above Orange, had the good fortune the other day to strike a fine flow of lubricating oil,” with samples sent to Newhall, situated in the San Fernando field, for review by experts. The paper concluded that “if pronounced of good quality it will be quite a valuable find.”
Ten days later, the Herald briefly reported on further work with the Santa Ana project in Brea Canyon, with the paper stating that “the conductor hole excavated preparatory to drilling the Towner and Hickman well at Petrolia” at just six feet yielded “quite a supply of oil that comes into the pit constantly” and this was adjudged “a good sign for a flowing well.”
In its edition of the 23rd, the Times informed readers that one of its reporters met with Chandler, who delivered the latest news from both Petrolia and Puente, with the deepest well in the latter at 270 feet, though the prospector said he’d be willing to drill close to four times deeper than that. Meanwhile, “at Petrolia the prospect is very encouraging, with Chandler’s well with Bower progressing at the rate of 30 feet daily and the Santa Ana company well “with good prospect, on the Shanklin land,” part of which, as noted in part one, William H. Bailey acquired from Shanklin in 1887.
The Times observed that crude from both fields fetched from $4.50 to $10 per barrel with Chandler telling the reporter he could easily market his product at 1,000 barrels daily if he had it. Notably, the account continued,
In this city the Electric Light works, the cannery and the City Foundry are using this oil. The San Gabriel Winer Company and the Colton Lime Works also use it. The demand for oil is very great and constantly increasing, and there is at present no more inviting field for capitalists than to develop the immense oil districts in the neighborhood of this city.
The Herald of the 26th, under the heading of “A Sensational Episode,” reminded its readers that regular customers “are thoroughly conversant with Petrolia, a promising petroleum camp” and that “the many friends of Mr. Burdette Chandler have watched with great interest his daily and weekly progress in boring into the earth in this virgin oil field.”
The prior day, workers reached the 240 foot level in the hole above which a wooden derrick, with “two inch planking firmly riveted into the timbers,” towered and “everything was going smoothly.” The crew “were waiting for the casing, having struck oil and gas,” so the driller, who happened to be named John F. Kennedy and was experienced in the Pennsylvania oil fields, as was Chandler, began to work on removing a bit holding a wrench.
As Kennedy removed a pin and then used a hot iron bar to widen the hole in which the pin was inserted.
Immediately there was a tremendous explosion. The twelve foot square flooring under the derrick was blown to smithereens, and Mr. Kennedy was hoist[ed] by his own petard to a height of forty or fifty feet. He came down senseless on the heavy timbers which had formed the flooring of the derrick, lying, happily, like a limp sack of wheat, over one of the massive joists. Fortunately [a visitor who was an experienced oil field worker] rushed forward and drew the insensible Kennedy . . . before his body was, by the process of gravity, surrendered to the cavernous depths of the 107 foot conductor hole. What with the violence of the explosion, the rocket-like ascension, the fire and smoke and the violent descent, Kennedy, when rescued, was nearly as naked as when he was born, but was far more scarred.
Chandler conveyed the unconscious worker to Anaheim and its Planters Hotel, where “he was regarded as in a precarious condition,” though he recovered and was back to work within a few weeks. The Herald continued that the accident, a reminder of the very dangerous work involved in oil drilling, especially before safety standards became a good deal stronger, was “unfortunate because the circumstances were very propitious for the discovery of a splendid and remunerative oil well.”
The damage done to the derrick and the hole, which was partially caved in, was such that “the violence of the catastrophe shows that oil and petroleum gas are abundant in Petrolia,” though the paper expressed the hope that using heated iron bars would be discontinued because of the encounter with gas that caused the explosion.
The edition of 4 November included a report from Chandler that the explosion involved “a column of gas four feet square and 107 feet deep,” the depth of the well and that it “blew the timbering of the sides of the pit into kindling wood and shook down the broken shale of the sides so as to almost fill the hole to the top.” As dismayed as Chandler and Bower were, eighty feet of the hole was already repaired.
Moreover, the Herald commented that “the flow of gas is strong from the oil reservoir beneath so that a powerful blower that sends a six-inch column of air down in the pit has to be kept going constantly to supply the workmen with fresh air.” During the remainder of the week, it was anticipated that the entirety of the pit would be cleared and cleaned and a twelve-inch casing installed “when a test will be made of the oil vein.”
Praising Bower and Chandler for “great energy and ingenuity in conquering the difficulties which they have encountered,” the paper added that the latter was deepening the Puente wells, the product of which sold for $7 per barrel “for fuel, lubrication and the coating of water pipe.” At the well drilled by Snow, “a fine new rig has been set up and active work will now go on,” while the Santa Ana outfit had “a good rig for sinking their well, which already shows oil and gas,” so that “good news may be expected at any time from one or more of these wells.”
In a “Notes from Petrolia” piece from 15 November, the Herald reported more from Chandler on the work to get the damaged well back into operation with “cheering prospects” including the report that clearing was about finished and “the sand pump daily brings up at every lift a copious quantity of lubricating oil.” Some five barrels each day were said to be of oil with 25 degrees gravity, “which it is supposed will increase when the debris is all cleared out.”
The paper remarked that “this kind of oil is very valuable and much sought after for fuel, for lubrication and for immersing iron to prevent rust” and that Chandler and Bower intended to keep drilling until “it yields copiously enough to suit them.” It was expected that such a situation could come soon enough.
Just about two weeks later, the Herald was visited by Bower, Chandler and a man named Hotchkiss, who came to Los Angeles a few months back “apparently far gone with consumption,” or tuberculosis, “but a residence of some weeks in the high, dry air at Petrolia, and the inhaling of the balsam-laden air of the oil wells, seem to have wrought an entire change in his health and arrested his disease.” Imagine breathing in oil fumes as being considered healthy!
While this story was being told to the paper, a wagon drove by and went to the Plaza with 17 barrels of oil for the private water company that provided that precious fluid to the city so that water pipes could be coated with the crude. Notably, it was added that
This oil Mr. Chandler has taken from the two shallow wells at Puente, or Upper Petrolia. This oil is in great demand for dipping iron pipe, for fuel, and for lubrication of car wheels.
The lumping in of Puente as “Upper Petrolia” is certainly notable, undoubtedly concocted by Chandler to link his two main areas of oil investment. Also of interest is the statement that a superintendent named Hewitt took some of the oil from the Puente field and compared it to product imported from the eastern states and found that “the home petroleum was 50 per cent cheaper . . . in doing the same work.”
Moreover, Fred S. Eaton, an engineer, water company official and mayor in 1889 and 1890, received a patent for covering iron pipe with canvas prior to dipping in petroleum and this was said to be an important innovation, as well as increasing the need for petroleum because of the absorption of the fluid at three times more than dipping the bare pipe, which led to the peeling that the canvas arrested.
As for Chandler and Bower well, the Herald reported that new casing was ordered to protect the well from further caving and, once that was installed, drilling was to resume. It was asserted that “the well has considerable oil in it, but the owners are determined to go deeper and get a larger supply of this valuable fluid.”
The 6 December issue of the paper, titled “The Petroleum Business,” reiterated Eaton’s canvas-covered iron pipe project and reported that 17 barrels were received from the Puente field the prior day, the crude coming from shallow wells with the expectation that this heavier gravity material was above a much larger pool of lighter gravity oil below it. As an aside, it was stated that the 800 acres of this field, controlled by Chandler and Rowland, was valued at $4,000 in 1881, but an offer of $50,000 for the tract was just refused.
The Herald delighted in telling readers that it was sure that the parties offering the handsome sum must have read its many accounts of the Puente field, while it added that more casing was sent there for deepening a well. At Petrolia, tubing was being sent for doing the same thing to the Chandler and Bower well and Snow “sent a new engine to drill deeper in his encouraging location.” The paper felt that “good news every week may be expected from this promising field, where land has advanced one hundred and twenty times its value in two years.”
The article concluded with the prognostication that,
When the first great well shall begin to give up its treasures in this locality, there will be a boom like that in Pennsylvania [where the American oil industry began] twenty years ago. Without waiting to go down for deep or flowing wells, it is evident that shallow wells will be very profitable for the production of heavy oil alone. The new coal discoveries in this section tend also to the advancement of the values of real estate in that part of the county.
With this assessment, we’ll turn tomorrow to 1884 and continue the story of Petrolia and its broader oil field, so be sure to check back in with us then!
As stated in this post, Petrolia was an important oil field in the 1880s, located near Soquel Canyon and present-day Brea. However, I was unable to find this name on modern maps of the area or locate relevant information through a Google search. Interestingly, “Petrolia” seems to have been a popular name for oil fields in the past. With a simple online search, I found four other namesake locations, all of significant historical value:
1. Petrolia, Pennsylvania – Located in Butler County, near Oil Creek, this region is credited with being the site of the first oil boom in the U.S.
2. Petrolia, Ontario, Canada – Located in Lambton County, this area is credited with starting the North American oil industry.
3.Petrolia, California – Located in Humboldt County on the West Coast, this field is credited with having California’s first oil well, though it was not a major producer.
4. Petrolia, Texas – Located in Clay County, this field is credited with becoming nationally recognized during World War I as the first natural gas reservoir of helium.
According to Part Three of the serial post, Burdette Chandler began his oil career in Pennsylvania, and I believe he was likely working in the same region as Petrolia, Pennsylvania. The post also mentions that Chandler later moved from Pennsylvania to Ontario, and I assume this refers to the town of Petrolia. Although Petrolia, California, is historically significant, there is no indication that Chandler prospected there. The Petrolia oil field in Texas was not discovered until 1904, so I believe Chandler had no involvement there, either.
Among these five namesake oil towns, Chandler had close ties to at least three, which likely contributed to his prominent success in the oil industry.
Hi Larry, Petrolia is literally a lost oil field of Orange County and it is notable that he worked in the Canadian one prior to coming to Los Angeles. As to his prominence and success, we’ll examine this in the future parts!