|
||
|
|
|
|
The McKittrick Oil Fields are among the oldest in California.
The present map shows the lands owned by Lotus Oil Company, along with a number of other companies who were active in the region, including the Occidental Oil Company, Yosemite Oil Comapany, McKittrick Extenson Oil Company, Los Angeles Oil Company, Knickerbocker Oil Company, Climax Oil Company, Pacific Land Oil Syndicate and many others.
A road or rail line is shown extending through the lands owned by the Lotus Oil Company and on to Kern and Button Willow, along with the Kern Valley Water Co. Canal.
The McKittrick Tar Pits were known to the local Native American population, the Yokuts, from prehistoric times. They used the asphaltum as a sealant, for waterproofing, for decoration, for adhesive, and for trade. In the 1860s, San Joaquin Valley settlers made the first attempts to mine the asphaltum, digging pits, trenches, and tunnels. They refined the viscous substance onsite, making it into lubricating oil and kerosene. In 1896 when the first real oil well was drilled. The Klondike Oil Company's Shamrock discovery, was not only the first major strike in the region, but the first significant oil well in the San Joaquin Valley, and would become one of the richest petroleum regions in the US.
![[Eastern San Diego County] Cuyamaca Quadrangle](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/83422.jpg)
