THE petroleum deposits in parts of New York and Pennsylvania attracted the attention of the earliest explorers of these regions. The red men knew also of those deposits, and made use of the oil in paint ing their bodies and as an unguent for the relief of many of the ills to which flesh is heir. Mention of this oil was repeatedly made by the French missionaries before the end of the seventeenth century; and in the year 1700 the governor of New York, in the course of certain instructions to Romer, who was sent to visit the Six Nations, says: "You are to go and view a well or spring which is eight miles beyond the Seneks furthest castle, which they have told me blazes up in a flame when a lighted coale or fire-brand is put into it; you will do well to taste the said water, and give me your opinion thereof and bring with you some of it."* Some twenty years later the celebrated Charlevoix says that an officer "worthy of credit," on the Upper Ohio, now called the Allegheny, assured him "that he had seen a fountain, the water of which is like oil and has the taste of iron. He said, also, a little further there is another fountain exactly like it, and that the savages made use of it to appease all manner of pains." About 1767 David Zeisberger, the Moravian missionary in the Allegheny river regions, says: "I have seen three kinds of oil springs-such as have an outlet, such as have none and such as rise *For much of the material of this article, where not otherwise credited, I am indebted to the Report of the Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, 1886 :,'Oil and Gas Regions. By John F. Carll. from the bottom of the creeks. From the first, water and oil flow out together, the oil impregnating the grass and soil; in the second, it gathers on the surface of the water to the depth of the thickness of a finger; from the third, it rises to the surface and flows with the current of the creek. The Indians prefer wells without an outlet. From such they first dip the oil that has accumulated; then stir the well, and, when the water has settled, fill their kettles with fresh oil, which they purify by boiling. It is used medicinally, as It is used medicinally, as an ointment for toothache, headache, swellings, rheumatism and sprains. Some times it is taken internally. It is of a brown color, and can also be used in lamps. It burns well." In 1783 General Lincoln writes as follows: "In the northern parts of Pennsylvania there is a creek called Oil creek, which empties itself into the Allegheny river, issuing from a spring, on the top of which floats an oil, similar to what is called Barbadoes' tar, and from which may be collected by one man several gallons in a day. The troops, in marching that way, halted at the spring, collected the oil and bathed their joints with it. This gave them great relief, and freed them immediately from the rheumatic complaints with which many of them were affected." Loskiel, in his 'History of the Mission of the Evangelical Brethren, 1789,' says: "One of the most favorite medicines used by the Indians is fossil oil, exuding from the earth, commonly with water. It is observed both in running and standing water. In the latter the oil swims on the emit. surface and is easily skimmed off, but in rivers it is carried away by the stream. Two [springs] have been discovered by the missionaries in the River Ohio. They are easily found by the strong smell they This oil is of a brown color and smells something like tar. When the Indians collect it from a standing water, they first throw away that which floats on the top, as it smells stronger than that below it; then they agitate the water violently with a stick; the quantity of oil increases with the motion of the water, and after it has settled again the oil is skimmed off into kettles and completely separated from the water by boiling. They use it chiefly in external complaints. Some take it inwardly and it has not been found to do harm. It will burn in a lamp. The Indians sometimes sell it to the white people at four guineas a quart." Samuel Maclay, in 1790, was appointed one of the commissioners to explore the streams of the new purchase, etc., in the northwestern part of Pennsylvania. In his journal, under date of Sunday, August 1, he writes: "We arrived at Fort Frankland* about three o'clock. Though I continued to get something better, yet I mended but slowly. This afternoon I collected a small quantity of oyl from a small oyl spring in the bank of French creek, with which I had my back rubbed before I went to bed." The next day he says: "Felt something better and had *He means Fort Franklin, where the city of Franklin, Venango county, now stands. An excellent edition of Maclay's journal was published by John F. Meginness, at Williamsport, Pennsylvania, in 1887. my back rubbed with the oyl this morn- In the year 1806 Thomas Ashe, an Englishman, traveled through this country "for the purpose," as he says on the title-page of his book,† "of exploring the rivers Alleghany, Monongahela, Ohio and Mississippi, and ascertaining the Produce and Condition of their Banks and Vicinity." Ashe, unfortunately, is not always trustworthy in his statements; but his observations on this subject are entertaining, and we give them for what they are worth. "Not far from Pittsburgh," he says, "is a well, which has its surface covered with a bituminous matter resembling oil, and which the neighboring inhabitants collect and use in ointments and other medicinal preparations. The vapour arising from this well is inflammable, and has been known to hang in a lambent state over the orifice, being fed by fresh exhalations, for several hours together. The medical men of Pittsburgh profess to have analyzed this oil, and to have discovered in it a variety of virtues, if applied according to their advice." *The healing virtues of petroleum are mildly stated by these early writers as compared with those of more modern date. In a notice "To the Readers of the Pittsburgh Christian Advocate," in 1852, set Again, he says: "Nearly opposite to Georgetown, and a few yards from the shore, a spring rises from the bottom of the river, which produces an oil nearly similar to Seneca oil. I conjecture that this must proceed from a large bed of mineral coal in the vicinity of the spring. On first hearing of this, from an intelligent Scotchman, the postmaster at Georgetown, whom I questioned as to the curiosities of his neighborhood, I immediately crossed over in my canoe to examine the well and search for grounds on which to establish some particular conclusions. I found none perfectly satisfactory. The surface, about four feet in diameter, was covered over with an olivecolored slime, here and there rising in lobes filled, but not agitated, with confined air. On a more minute inspection, however, I perceived these globules burst and subside in gentle undulations, enclosing in a circle a matter whose color was less deep than that prevailing on the general face of the well. On discovering other globules to rise in succession, I gently dipped up a gourdful of water and globules while in the act of rising to the surface. I spilt the whole on the blade of the paddle, and could distinguish, very ting forth the wonderful curative properties of "Petro- plainly, the oil which had been exposed leum or Rock Oil," the advertiser says: "Within the past two months, two of our own citizens, who were totally blind, have been restored to sight. Several cases of blindness in the state of Ohio have been cured, and, also, the case of a gentleman in Beaver county." He further says: It is our duty when to the air from the oil which just rose in we write about a medicine, that we write the truth-plain that coal abounded, but I could not 'Travels in America, Performed in 1806, for the Purpose,' etc. By Thomas Ashe, esq. Newburyport Reprint. 1808. take upon me to assert that the well or On the Ohio, thirty-eight miles below Pittsburgh, I skimmed off a gourdful of oil, and again crossing the river, went to the house of a doctor, whom I supposed capable of analyzing the subject for me. On seeing my gourdful of oil, and the interest I took in the investigation of its properties, he very handsomely told me that 'he had but just turned doctor, and had not as yet given his time to such things.' My admiration of his candor covered him from contempt, and I returned to my Scotch friend more full of the dangerous idea of a man but 'just turned doctor,' and let loose on a sickly world, than I was of my gourd of oil, or the consequence of the discovery of its virtues to mankind." The development of the oil industry, prior to 1859, was of slow growth. As late as 1843 the usual method of collecting the oil was still very primitive. "Oil creek," says Trego, "derives its name from the substance called Seneca oil, which rises in bubbles from the bed of the stream, and on reaching the top of the water these bubbles explode, leaving the oil floating on the surface. Though this oil is found in many places throughout the whole course of the stream, it is most abundant two or three miles from the mouth, where several of the owners of the land make a business of collecting the oil during the dry season, as it is most plentiful at low water. A dam of loose stones is raised a little higher than the surface of the water, ten or fifteen feet in diameter, around those places where the oil rises; an eddy is thus created inside of the wall which confines the floating oil, while the water passes freely between the loose stones. The oil is thus suffered to accumulate for one, two or three days, until it becomes an inch or more in depth; a piece of flannel or blanket is then spread over it, which absorbs the oil, and it is afterwards wrung from the cloth into a barrel or some other vessel. The water which may be raised with it is drained off through a small hole at the bottom of the vessel. From two to ten or twelve barrels are collected in a season by each of the proprietors, the quantity depending upon the prevalence of dry weather and low water." The price of the oil in Pittsburgh at that time was from seventy-five cents to one dollar per gallon. "In the low grounds along this creek," Trego continues, "oil may be obtained by digging to a level with the bottom of the stream, but when thus procured it is not so pure and clean as that taken upon the surface of the creek. This mode of obtaining it has evidently been practiced by the Indians, or some other people, long before the white man set his foot upon the soil of this region. Places of four or five acres in extent may still be seen, where holes have been dug in the ground from six to twelve feet in diameter, close together, being yet from two to four feet deep, and having trees standing in many of them of upwards of one hundred years' growth. On the settlement of this part of the country, some of the oldest Indian residents were questioned respecting these excavations, but were unable to give any information concerning them." In this last paragraph, Mr. Trego touches upon a topic of rare interest, which has been fully discussed by the Rev. * A Geography of Pennsylvania.' By Charles B. Trego. Philadelphia: 1843. Page 359. Mr. Eaton in his work entitled 'Petrolia: A History of the Oil Regions of Venango County,'* "From the fact," says he, "that some of these pits have been cribbed with timber bearing marks of a cutting instrument in its adjustment, many have assigned them a modern origin, and supposed that their construction was due to the French, who, at one time [say from 1750 to 1760], occupied to a certain extent the Venango oil region. But this theory is scarcely plausible, and certainly not tenable. There is evidence from the growth of timber in the very beds of these excavations, that they claim an antiquity greater far than the occupation of these valleys by the French. "Besides this, where was the market for the immense quantity of petroleum that must have been produced from these excavations, on the supposition that they were constructed by the French? Surely not in Canada or France, for neither in the misty traditions nor early records of that time do we find reference to any large quantity of this product; nor had they the facilities for conveying it to the seaboard had there been a demand for it at home. "Another theory that has been somewhat popular is, that these pits are due to the labors of the American Indians. But the very term labor seems absurd when used in reference to these lords of the forest. They never employed themselves in manual labor of any kind. They scorned it as unworthy of their dignity and *In what I quote here from 'Petrolia,' I follow Professor Carll in the Geological Survey, Oil and Gas Region,' Chapter I. I regret that want of space obliges me to contract Mr. Eaton's discussion even more than Mr. Carll has done. independence. They had no implements in their possession when first known to the civilized world, either for excavating or for cribbing the work when excavated, and it is preposterous to suppose that their civilization was of a higher type, or their knowledge of the arts more extensive at any former period of their history. "Beyond all doubt the Indians were well acquainted with the existence and many of the properties of petroleum. That they valued it is beyond a question. They used it both for medicinal and for toilet purposes. But they knew of its existence and production just as the earlier white settlers did; they found it bubbling up from the bed of the stream, and from the marshy places along its banks. They no doubt collected it in small quantities, without labor and without much forethought, and with this small supply were content. The surface oil would more than answer all their purposes. "There are men still living in the oil valley who were on terms of familiar intimacy with Complanter,† a celebrated chief of the Senecas, and who was living at the time of the French occupation of the country. . . For nearly a century he had had intercourse with the chiefs and braves of different tribes, and was well versed in their traditionary lore; but in reciting his own deeds and memories, and those of his fathers who had gone to the silent hunting-grounds of the spirit land, he could say nothing of the early oil operations, any further than the collection of it in small quantities for medicinal or + Complanter was born about 1735. About the year 1790 he settled on the bank of the Allegheny river, fourteen miles above the town of Warren, Pennsylvania, where he died in 1836. |