Strike It Rich!

Entrepreneurship was the driving force behind the success of the El Dorado Oil Field. The discovery of oil changed the lives of people in the oil towns and of the oilmen who gained almost unheard of wealth in the boom days. Truly they struck it rich! In another way, it changed the history and the future of South Central Kansas.

Often when we think of striking it rich, we merely think of personal wealth. Truly being rich, however, reaches beyond yourself. Whether you’re talking about money, expertise, relationships, skills and abilities, etc; true wealth is expressed when your resources impact the lives of others. The wealth of the El Dorado Oil Field impacted the lives of others well beyond Butler County.

One of the entrepreneurs working in the El Dorado field was Jake Moellendick, who in addition to his oil ventures, was fascinated with airplanes.

Moellendick made a considerable fortune in the El Dorado field. He decided to start a factory that would mass-produce airplanes. He sought out a Chicago barnstormer named Matty Laird, who had built a faster, sleeker airplane. Laird, who was only 19 at the time, was convinced to bring his design to Wichita to begin production. Bankrolled by Moellendick, and El Dorado oil money, production was successful and the new airplane soon became known as the Swallow.

A year after the Swallow took flight, an Arkansas City World War I veteran Walter Beech was hired by Moellendick as a test pilot. He also hired a Harper County young man by the name of Lloyd Stearman as a draftsman.

Moellendick had earned a reputation of being hard to work for in the oil industry and these men were quickly convinced that the reputation was well deserved. A parting of the ways was short in coming.

Laird moved his successful Swallow operation back to Chicago.

Walter Beech and Lloyd Stearman also soon left Moellendick over a disagreement to pursue a new airplane design utilizing steel construction. Beech and Stearman partnered with Clyde Cessna to start a new company called Travel Air and had great success in the industry.

It was the wealth of the El Dorado Oil Field and the entrepreneurial spirit of the oil industry that led to Wichita being dubbed the “Air Capital of the World.”

Out of that richness came Cessna, Beechcraft, and the Stearman airplane industry. Lloyd Stearman went on to be the first president of Lockheed. Later started another company that merged with Boeing, before going back to work at Lockheed Martin to assist in designing the F-104, vertical takeoff and landing craft, space re-entry vehicles and the Lockheed Constellations.

There is a lesson we can learn from those who struck it rich in the El Dorado Oil Field. Their wealth impacted individuals, communities and industries far beyond their wheelhouse. Museums and non-profits must always be mindful that our wealth is not simply found in what we are able to accomplish within ourselves. Our wealth is defined by how we impact the lives of others and give them the tools to move forward.

When we provide the tools and resources others need to make their lives better, we become better ourselves. The Kansas Oil Museum is dedicated to being a educational institution of choice built on the solid foundation of history that provides people with the resources they need to grow. That is where we will Strike it Rich! And we invite you to join us in this effort.

© 2015 Warren Martin. All Rights Reserved.

Drilling for Innovation

When you talk about tools of the trade in the Oil Industry… Innovation is the key tool you must have at your disposal. The quest for oil is about speed, precision, hard work… but it is also about innovation!

Image dozens of entrepreneurs all on a quest to discover a precious resource. When a discovery is made a BOOM ensues. Booms are driven by those who have the where-with-all to utilize innovation to gain the advantage.

The first wells of the El Dorado Oil Field were drilled by cable drilling rigs. A derrick was erected, primarily of wood, to hoist the bit, bailer and equipment. The walking arms rhythmic march dropped the bit, pounding the hole deeper and deeper.

Everyone was looking for better way… a faster way… a cheaper way… a safer way to establish a well. Wood Derricks gave way to steel derricks. Steam powered engines gave way to gas, then electric motors. Spudders of all types were employed to seek out viable wells before the extreme expense of a derrick was undertaken.

Regardless of the derrick, spudder, Walker-Neer or other cable drilling rigs employed. The principle remained the same… cable drilling was cable drilling.

There is an enormous volume of cable-drilling machines. Most companies kept their equipment secluded from the prying eyes of others. The boom was a race. It required people willing to take the principles and innovate a way to exploit them to accomplish a goal. This created a huge number of different machines that all did the same thing.

You could look at any part of the oil industry and find innovation. Another example is that found in pumping jacks. Again, originally driven by steam power. It required unique innovation to establish a central power unit driving by steam that could run numerous rod driven pumping jacks.

Steam power gave way to gas and electric. And a more standardized pumping jack was created with a parallel drive chain.

However, during the oil glut of the late 70s and into the 80s, people were looking for ways to reduce costs. Rather than have to manufacture an entire pump jack drive chain, OTEK created a cheaper innovative design that utilized front end load and truck axels to drive their pump jack. This perpendicular drive chain utilized parts already in existence and greatly reduced production costs. That’s innovation.

There is a great lesson we can all learn from the innovative spirit of the oil industry. Principles do not change. How you drill a well, how you pump up the crude…those remain the same. What should change is the equipment we use to accomplish the goal. The principles don’t change, but the methods do.

This is important, especially for museums, nonprofits and churches. The principles that drive our organizations don’t change. However the method we use to accomplish our mission should. It should change in such a way to impact the greatest number of lives with the greatest good.

Here at the Kansas Oil Museum we are dedicated to be a place of innovation. We want to change in order to impact more lives…and we invite you to join us in this effort!

© 2015 Warren Martin. All Rights Reserved.

Geology: A Lesson in Being a Life-long Learner

Amazingly it wasn’t until the eighteenth century that mankind began to scientifically study the earth beneath their feet. Scientists were making discoveries into the unseen world of germs and cellular biology at the same moment they were discovering the composition of the land that was always before their eyes. However, once scientists began looking down, their discoveries would open the doors to new heights of and profits in the exploration of natural resources.

In the early years of oil exploration, drillers had more in common with gamblers than they did with scientists. For the most part it was pure luck to strike oil. Those early explorers naturally sought out any technique that would improve their chances of a strike. Consequently, there was no shortage of people (mostly charlatans) who were happy to take on the challenge.

German miners in the sixteenth century believed the use of a forked hazel bush twig could locate ore veins underground. This early form of witching (divining rods) would expand to locate everything from ore, to water, to black gold. If you wanted something with a more personal touch, you could turn to the spiritualists who received their information from the “great beyond.”

There were also oil “smellers” and the more unique personalities that had their own approach. There was a man who carried a bottle of crude around his neck on a string. He claimed when we walked over an underground oil field he would receive a shock from the bottle.

As the industrial revolution mechanized the world, the search for oil spawned an endless procession of machines claiming to aid in the process. These machines were dubbed “doodlebugs.” Many of them were remarkable machines, however, they did little to improve the likelihood of making a discovery. One such machine was built by a Pittsburg man who claimed his giant X-ray machine when focused on the earth could disseminate an electrical current that would excite the molecules in the earth and render it temporarily transparent. During that moment, he could see the oil beneath the earth.

Scientifically speaking, I probably don’t need to tell you that all of these approaches historically proved to be no more effective than random drilling. However, it is important to note in the early 1900s, geologists where seen as no more credible than the diviners, spiritualists, smellers or doodlebuggers.

It was in 1913 when geologist Charles N. Gould (founder of the Oklahoma Geological Survey) presented a paper to the International Geological Congress describing the correlation between geological occurrences and natural resource deposits that the perception began to change. However, Gould’s statement on the relationship was hardly earth shaking. Rather, it was a very cautious statement. He said, “careful studies of geological conditions have demonstrated that there is a rather definite relation between structure of rocks and occurrence of oil and gas.” While his statement barely kept people awake, it was revolutionary.

Following the congress, Cities Service hired Mr. Gould and Everett Carpenter to help with prospecting. Gould and Carpenter rented a spring buggy and travelled from Oklahoma to Butler County, Kansas. Over a period of time they mapped the area around Augusta. At Gould’s direction, Cities Service hired J. Russell Crabtree to make some engineering drawings of the data collected so the executives could better understand the findings. This was one of the first geological maps that included contouring of the landscape.

At the recommendation of Gould and his team, Cities Service initiated the drilling of several wells in the area. Unbelievably, all but one of the wells found gas at 1,400 feet. It was an unprecedented feat for almost every well to be successful. However, the one that was dry at 1,400 feet, Gould encouraged they drill deeper and at 2,516 feet the Frank Varner No. 1 struck oil. A hundred percent success rate on drilling was beyond belief.

In 1911, the city of El Dorado was in desperate need of gas. Several attempts were made to drill in the El Dorado area, however all attempts failed to produce. Even with these failures looming in the background, Cities Service found new hope in the science of geology. They sent H.R. Straight and F.L. Frankenberger to the area. They staked out the location of Stapleton No. 1.

On Oct. 5, 1915 at 549 feet the drill bit into Admire Shale and flowed 96 barrels of oil per day. They continued to drill, hitting several oil producing formations until they reached 2,497 feet and the well flowed 110 barrels of oil per day. The first time geology was used in the discovery of oil was the beginning of the El Dorado oil boom. In the words of newspaper columnist K. V. “Ken” Brooks, “There was no doubt about it, Cities Service had struck a bonanza.”

These discoveries not only revolutionized El Dorado and Butler County. They fundamentally changed forever the field of geology. Today, no one would even consider drilling a well without consulting a geologist.

There is a lesson we can all learn in the establishment of geology as key in the oil industry. Organizations have traditions, whether it be a business, non-profit or club. One of the most common pitfalls is that we tend to continue doing things the way we’ve always done them without consideration of why we do them that way. Many of the activities we engage in have no more proof of effectiveness than the charlatans, diviners and doodlebuggers of early oil exploration.

It is important we evaluate the effectiveness of the activities we engage in as to how they move us forward in our mission. We must constantly be exploring and learning. Growing in our knowledge is vital. We must dedicate ourselves to being life-long learners.

Many organizations fall by the way side simply because they lack the knowledge and ability to evaluate their actions. Thus, they become inconsequential in the lives of others. They simply keep doing what they’ve always done.

Museums (and all organizations) must actively work to avoid this end. To remain relevant, we must adapt. Adaptation requires evaluation of practices, understanding of mission and continual growth in our knowledge base.

The Kansas Oil Museum is dedicated to adapting to the needs of our community and state. We are on the forefront of changing the image of museums (much like the image of geology) to become an educational institution of choice. Museums can no longer remain static collectors of things. We must adapt and become institutions dedicated to the preservation and promulgation of history through education. We invite you to join with us in this effort.

© 2015 Warren Martin. All Rights Reserved.