AS THE STORY GOES, IT ALL BEGAN WITH AN EMPTY WHISKEY BOTTLE. AFTER A FRUITLESS SEARCH FOR
OIL, THREE PENNSYLVANIA MEN
DECIDED TO DRILL ONE LAST WELL
AND PICK ITS LOCATION WITH THE
TOSS OF A BOTTLE.
WHAT THEY HIT WAS ONE OF THE
STATE'S LARGEST OIL FIELDS.
HI. I AM JIM WILHELM. IN 1906, THAT DISCOVERY LED TO
THE BEGINNING OF AN OIL BOOM IN
CRAWFORD COUNTY.
TODAY, THE INDUSTRY THAT SPRANG
FROM THAT WELL IS REMEMBERED
HERE AT THE ILLINOIS OIL FIELD
MUSEUM IN OBLONG, NOT FAR FROM
WHERE THE FIRST WELL GUSHED.
INSIDE AMONG THE TOOLS ON DAY
DISPLAYS ARE SIGNS FROM
COMPANIES ONCE LOCATED HERE,
INCLUDING MUSKIE.
IT WAS FOUNDED BY THOSE MEN FROM
PENNSYLVANIA AND WE WERE TOLD
THE NAME IS INDIAN TERM MEANING
"MORE MONEY."
SOMETIMES TO GET THAT MONEY,
THESE CANISTERS WERE USED.
THEY WERE FILLED WITH
NITROGLYCERIN AND LOWER DOWN THE
WELL BORE, THEN THE
NITROGLYCERIN WAS DROPPING BY
DROPPING A GO DEVIL DOWN THE
BOARD T WOULD CREATE UNDERGROUND
CAVERN IN WHICH THE OIL WOULD
FLOW.
ONCE OIL WAS HIT, TO KEEP IT
FLOWING, PUMPS WERE PLACED AT
THE BOTTOM OF THE WELL BORES.
THEY WERE CONNECTED TO THE
SURFACE BY A DRILL SPRING,
SERIES OF CONNECTING PIPES WHICH
AT THAT TIME WERE MADE OF WOOD.
IT IS INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT
PETROLEUM WHICH FIEWLTSES ON
MODERN AGE WAS ONCE DELIVERED BY
HORSE DRAWN WAGONS.
OH, AND ANOTHER WHYS AT THIS
CONNECTION: OIL IS SOLD BY THE
BARREL BECAUSE IN THE MID
1800'S, IT WAS STORED IN WOODEN
WHISKEY BARRELS, THE ONLY THING
AVAILABLE AT THE TIME.
OUTSIDE THE MUSEUM IS SURROUNDED
BY LARGER PIECES, INCLUDING
ANOTHER HORSE DRAWN WAGON.
THIS ONE IS A PULLING UNIT.
OCCASIONALLY THE PUMP AT THE
BOTTOM OF THE WELL WOULD FAIL,
AND THAT'S WHEN THIS WAGON WAS
USED.
ONCE IN POSITION, THE PULLING
UNIT STOOD STRAIGHT UP, CREATING
BLOCK AND TACKLE FORM.
THEN A CABLE WAS STRUNG
THROUGHOUT PULLEY AT THE TOP,
AND HORSES WERE USED TO PULL UP
THE ENTIRE DRILL LINE AND THE
OLD PUMP.
IT WAS A TOUGH JOB BACK THEN
WORKING IN OIL.
THOUSANDS HAD FLOODED THE AREA
SEEKING EMPLOYMENT AND INSTANT
WEALTH.
THERE WERE NO UNIONS, PAY WAS
MINIMAL, AND IN THE DAYS OF
HORSES MOST OF THE WORK WAS DONE
BY HAND.
PIPELINE DITCHES WERE DUG
MANUALLY, AND IT TOOK THREE MEN
CONSTANTLY TURNING THEESE LARGE
TONGUES TO SCREW ONE SECTION OF
PIPE INTO THE CONNECTING COLLAR.
MEANWHILE, IN THE FIELDS, MORE
WELLS WERE BEING DRILLED AND
MORE PUMPS WERE BEING SET TO
WORK.
IT WAS NEAR HERE IN 1906 THAT ONE OF THE LARGEST OIL FIELDS IN THE STATE WAS DISCOVERED.
THAT FIRST WELL CAME IN AT
1500-BARRELS A DAY MAKING
ILLINOIS ONE OF THE LARGEST OIL
PRODUCING STATES.
THAT TITLE HAS PASSED, BUT THE
OIL FIELD IS STILL PRODUCING AS
EVIDENCED BY THE NUMEROUS PUMPS
DOTTING THE LANDSCAPE.
TODAY THEY ARE POWER BY ELECTRIC
MOTORS. BUT TURN OF THE CENTURY
THEY USED A COMBINATION OF OLD
AND NEW TECHNOLOGY.
BACK THEN, EACH PUMP WAS CONNECTED BY STEEL RODS TO A LARGE WHEEL TURNED BY A SINGLE
ENGINE.
THIS IS ONE OF THOSE UNITS. IN ADDITION TO THE OIL, MOST WELLS ALSO PRODUCED SOME NATURAL
GAS, AND THAT GAS WAS USED TO
POWER SOME OF THESE ENGINES.
EACH ONE OF THEM HAS A MARKER ON
THE EXHAUST WHICH GIVES OFF A
LOUD NOISE EVERY SO OFTEN.
AND THAT'S SO THEY CAN MONITOR
THE ENGINE FROM AFAR.
THIS UNIT HAS BEEN IN CONTINUOUS OPERATION SINCE 1909, AND LIKE THE MODEL WE SAW IN THE MUSEUM,
IT, TOO, TURNED A LARGE WHEEL
WHICH MOVES THE ROD LINES BACK
AND FORTH WHICH OPERATES THE
PUMPS.
A LOST FOLKS WHO GREW UP IN THIS
AREA REMEMBER GOING TO SLEEP
WITH THOSE BARKERS COUGHING ALL
NIGHT LONG.
IF ANYTHING SHOULD HAPPEN TO THE
ENGINE, THE SILENCE WAS ENOUGH
TO WAKE THE FOR MAN.
AND THE ROD LINES RUN MORE THAN
JUMPS.
SOME INVENTIVE PERSON DESIGNED
THIS WOODEN BOX COULD BE HOOK
TODAY A LINE WHICH WOULD ROCK IT
BACK AND FORTH AND IT BECAME A
CLOTHES WASHER.
SOON THE MUSEUM HOPES TO
RELOCATE TO A LARGER FACILITY.
AND THEY HAVE PLANS TO
RECONSTRUCT A WOODEN OIL DERRICK
OVER THE FIRST WELL THAT STARTED
THE BOOM.
FOR DIRECTIONS TO OR FROM TIMES THE MUSEUMS ARE OPEN CALL (618)544-3087.