|
||
|
|
|
|
The Standard Oil Company in Uintah County, Wyoming.
Detailed map of the oil producing regions of Uintah County, Wyoming, published by Charles O. Richardson in Salt Lake City, Utah, in April 1903, shortly after the region began to be an oil producing region.
The Index references the first two wells of the Standard Oil Company, other Oil & Gas Wells, lands of the Standard Reserve Oil Company, location of the Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad, and the Union Pacific Railroad, County, and other roads.
The map also includes a diagram of the stratifications of oil sand encountered in drilling the Union Pacific Oil Well.
This map is among the earliest maps to show the exploitation of the oil resources in Uintah County, Wyoming, with numerous wells located.
The existence of oil in the Spring Valley area was known long before the earliest settlers. The first published account is contained in a small volume called the "Mormon's Guide Book," that appeared in 1848. After describing the crossing of Sulphur Creek, the passage reads as follows: "About a mile from this place in a southwest course is a `tar' or `oil' spring, covering a surface of several rods of ground. There is a wagon trail running within a short distance of it. It is situated in a small hollow on the left of the wagon trail, at a point where the trail rises to a higher bench of land. When the oil can be obtained free of sand, it is useful to oil wagons. It gives a nice polish to gun stocks, and has been proved highly beneficial when applied to the sores on horses." A shallow well was dug out around the spring, and it was called the Brigham Young Oil Spring.
The oil industry has been a part of the Wyoming economy since the beginning days of statehood. In fact, explorers in what is now Wyoming in the early 19th century reported evidence of oil. Captain Bonneville included reference to oil springs near present Dallas Dome, the location of what would be the state's first drilled oil well in 1885.
