Nellie Johnstone No. 1 facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Nellie Johnstone No. 1
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Replica of Nellie Johnstone No. 1 drilling rig in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Photo taken September 29, 2013
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 Nellie Johnstone No. 1
Location in Oklahoma
Nellie Johnstone No. 1
Location in the United States
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| Location | Johnstone Park, Bartlesville, Oklahoma |
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| Area | 10 acres (4.0 ha) |
| Built | 1897 |
| Built by | Cudahy Oil Co. |
| NRHP reference No. | 72001077 |
| Added to NRHP | April 11, 1972 |
Nellie Johnstone No. 1 was a very important oil well. It was the first oil well in Oklahoma that produced oil for sale. Back then, Oklahoma was called Indian Territory. This well was finished on April 15, 1897. It was drilled near Bartlesville, Oklahoma. This well started a new time of finding and drilling for oil in Oklahoma.
The well stopped being used in 1964. The land where it stood was given to the city of Bartlesville. Now, it's a park with a rebuilt drilling rig. It is also listed as a historic place.
How the Oil Well Started
Two men, George B. Keeler and William Johnstone, helped start this oil well. George Keeler was part of the Osage Nation. William Johnstone was part of the Delaware Nation. They both married Native American women.
Keeler and Johnstone opened a store near the Caney River. They named it after Johnstone's daughter, Nellie Johnstone. These two men, along with their partner Frank Overlees and their wives, leased a large area of land. It was about 200,000 acres (810 km2) from the Cherokee Nation. This land had natural oil seeps, which meant oil was already coming to the surface. They hired the Cudahy Oil Company to pay for the drilling.
Drilling for Oil
The company McBride and Bloom helped with the drilling. They had already drilled for oil in another area. The drilling machine they used had been used before. It was moved about 70 miles (110 km) by oxcart to the Bartlesville site. This trip took two weeks.
The well was drilled 1,320 feet (400 m) deep. To get the oil out, they used a special method. They put a "torpedo" into the well. This torpedo had liquid nitroglycerine inside. It was meant to break up the rock and let the oil flow.
George Keeler's stepdaughter, Jennie Cass, dropped the "go devil" charge. This caused the explosive to go off. About fifty people watched this happen. The well then shot out oil like a geyser. It produced between 50 and 75 barrels of oil each day. They had to cap, or close, the well for two years. This was because they needed a way to move the oil to a market far away.
Challenges and Reopening
According to a history article, the Nellie Johnstone well was not sealed perfectly when it was capped. Oil kept leaking into a pit while the well was closed. This oil eventually flowed into the nearby Caney River.
During a very cold winter, some children were ice skating on the frozen river. They built a bonfire to stay warm. Somehow, the fire reached the oil seep. It caught fire and then spread to the Nellie Johnstone well. This caused a lot of damage to the oil facility.
The well was reopened in 1900. This happened after a railroad, later known as the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, came to Bartlesville. The railroad offered to carry the crude oil to a market in Neodesha, Kansas. This helped the oil field grow. The well produced more than 100 thousand barrels (16×103 m3) of oil in its lifetime. It was finally capped for good in 1948.
Nellie Johnstone Cannon, who the well was named after, was six years old when it was drilled. She was given the land where the well was located because of her Native American family. She sold the land to Bartlesville in 1917. Today, this area is known as Johnstone Park.
Johnstone Park Today
A new drilling rig was built over the well in 1948. The well was still producing oil at that time. After the Nellie Johnstone No. 1 well was stopped in 1963, people wanted to keep the site as a historical place. So, the drilling rig was rebuilt using redwood timbers. The derrick, which is the tall part of the rig, was rebuilt again in 2008.
The well site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. This means it is a special place that is important to history.
