Image provided by: Crook County Historical Society/Bowman Museum; Prineville, OR
About Crook County journal. (Prineville, Or.) 189?-1921 | View Entire Issue (May 26, 1921)
SPECIAL DEVELOPMENT EDITION Section Seven Crook County Journal COJNTY OFFICIAL PAPER OF CROOK COUNTY FOR ALL CENTRAL OREGON CITY OFFICIAL PAPER FOR CITY OF PRINEVILLE VOLl MR XXV. miNKVlIXE, CROOK (WJfTT, ORKUON THl'KNDAV, MAY , IU21 NO. 89. Oil Prospects TdFIGIIPlf ill THE BLUE MOUNTAIN OIL Take from Prelim I nry Import by Inrart C. KuMoll The relief surface In central Ore gon presents well-marked contrast! ranging from the nearly level, featu releta surfaces of the desert valleys where the general elevation I about 4.000 feet, to the rugged, snow-clad summits of the Cascade Mountains, the highest of which, Mt. Jefferson reaches height of about 10.250 feet. The contrast between the re gion extending 160 miles or more east of the Cascade Mountains and the great series of peaks and ridges bounding It on the west Is so great that the former region, although ac tually rugged, soems by comparison monotonous snd larking In varia tions In relief of surface. But for the overshadowing Importance of the great mountains on Its west border however, the central portion of the Slate would In general be rocognls d as mountainous. Great Handy Doncrt, The most extensive tract of near ly level land Is situated In the geo graphic center of the Btnte and Is designated In part of the maps as the Great Bandy Desert. This re gion, termed "sandy" on account of the thick sheet of pumlceous sand and dust that cover large portions of It extends from the south-central part of Crook County southeastward across the northeastern portion of Lake County and fan Into Harney county. Us length Is In the neigh borhood of 160 miles and its width from 30 to 60 mile So nearly unl- fit "'.. UML. f,.r ' - form Is the surface that one might drive throughout Its length and er ven for much , greater , distance than Indicated above, without meet ing any greater obstruction than the rigid sagebrush and. to indicate the aridity of the region without find ing a single watering place for man or animals. The boundaries of this vast, near ly smooth tract are Indefinite, as It la bordered by mountains both of Volcanic origin and of upheaval, be tween which He the extensive valleys that unite to form the, central plain. On the plain Itself there the prom inent elevations, either standing as Isolated buttes or as groups of hills and mountains, which are rendered especially conspictous because of the ' general smoothness of the surfares from which they rise, as well as by the steepness and. in some Instan ces, the ruggedness of their sides. Classes of Elevations. .The topographlo elevations In central Oregon may be classed In two groups hills or mountains and plateaus due to upheaval, and hills or mountains produced by volcanic ' eruptions. Of these two classes the second contains by far the greater number of examples. Each of the groups of land forms referred to as standing In relief may again be di vided into those that have derived . most of their consptclous characters they define the boundaries of a through the action of the forces that! less rugged central portion of Ore brought thorn Into existence, and ' gon traversed during the reconnlas those that have been modified In anre which furnished the data for an Important way by erosion. In ! thia paper, although, In most lnstan- other words, there are both old and young hills and plateaus due to up heaval and old and young volcanic y "ir 1 "Mr"r''Tlf'1 " '" 1 r'r'n yrrr" vTr-r"'",i T; 'ir i. r i( , ,p.qi,nn Mjy v Shale formation Crook County, Ore. cones. These contrasts In age re fer mainly to the degree of topogra phic development produced by ero sion, but also Indicate In a general way the relative dates at which the various elevations in each class came Into existence. , ''"" , The broad irregular plateau north of Burns, which extends west to near Prlnevllle, form an uplifted region, perhaps with many minor inequalities, but in general a broad upward swell or anticline produced by upheaval. Its surface has been trenched by streams, but In general is not minutely dissected. About 30 miles south of these plateaus are Powell Butte aiiul the Paulina Moun tains, and in the intervening space is a prominent ridge termed locally Pine Mountain- Each of these ele ments is a remnant of a geologically ancient upland cut down by erosion. To the east of the central region rises Steins Mountains, a prominent north and south range due to the upheaval and tilting of a large block of the earth's crust adjacent to a line of deep earth fractures that is it is a monoclinal or "block moun tain." Similar tilted blocks form the prominent, generally . north south, ridges in the vicinity of tha alkaline lakes to which Lake county owes Its name. These elevatlonB are mention because to a' great extent y w v f'-v tl J V l V lrft to Right, Hmt How M. 8teven Miller. Nell Bertrandias. Field Manager, L. O. Roberts, Manager; Lionel C- Mackay, Secret 'v-Treasurer; E. O. Dahl. Second Row A. F DeFrenn; S. DeArmond; Dlllen Rogers. Third Row R. R. Hamilton"; Geo. Earle Henton. ces, no fresh information is here presented concerning them. In central Oregon the most com- mon and most consplvious eleva tions are due to volcanic eruptions In traveling west from Burns to Sis ters a tew old volcanoes are net In the first half of the Journey, such as Placldla Butte, the Glass Butte, and farther west are seen other an cient craters or much-eroded vol- volcanoes. These young volcanoes are situated for the most part in the northern part of Lake County and the southwest part of Crook County. Their cones,- so recent in numerous broken their crater rims, are . so ID GAS COMPANY ARE ACT! numerous that 60 or more can be frequently counted in a single view, while a change of a few miles in the position of the observer brings per- haps as many more within the range o fvislon. The cones increase In ab undance as the Cascade Mountains the portion visited although well de are approached, a fact significant j fined, is not abrupt- In the portion of the conditions on which the dis- tribution of volcanoes depends. . I-.-, The Cascade Mountains border the interior basins and valleys of Or- region extend westward and. be egon on the west, crossing the State eoming more and more closely asso from north to south In a contlnu- dated, merge with the volcanic ous belt, which, south of the Colum- o018 which form the Cascade range, bia, is nowhere Intersected by a tra- Jn general it seems to be true that verse valley and across which there tne Breat number of volcanoes form are no low passes, though at three iK the Cascades are situated along localities wagon roads have been belt of fractures running north constructed which furnish routes of and south, from which, at least In travel betweeu the interior of Ore- the portion of the range between the gon and the region west of the '' ' (Continued on page 4) . Sandstone formation in Crook i mountains. The mountains, so far as known, are composed entirely of elevations due to volcanic eruptions and consist of lava flows and the fragmental products of volcanoes. President and J. L. Ringo; R. The eastern border of the range in .." ri'; -: t . a - Showing formation where prospecting is to of the border between ' the Three Sisters peaks and Mount Thielsen l" "wi mrauura ui uuanji County TSn!H ilwllv At an early date, perhaps not lat er than July 10th, the Blue Moun tain Oil and Gas Company which, ' was incorporated recently In Port land for the purpose of drilling In the country south of Prlnevllle for oil expect to commence ac tual drilling on the test well on their two hundred thousand acrs holding. The company has ordered a drill ing outfit, which has a capacity for drilling a hole twenty Inches in dia meter at the surface, and a depth of five thousand feet or more. It la known as a standard rig, and la of the style and type of machines la use in the Texas oil fields. This equipment, on the ground, will cost the concern from $35,000 to $40,000 and it is sufficient evi dence that the concern meana busi ness and is spending its money to locate a paying oil field in this part of the State, according to Mr. Ber trandias. The Company has a large number of leases in the upper Crooked river country and around Post. Accord ing to the geologist tests this seema to be a promising location. This concern has been open and fair In all their dealings during the past two years, covering the tlmo which has been ton'soaied In pros pecting these oil possibilities, and should be given every assistance In the way of leases that Is possible from local land holders. The company is operating In the manner In which every large con cern of good standing operates In 4 be done soon the oil business and every encour agement should be given them to as sist in the prospecting of the local situation. " Nothing could be of greater value to this country than the location of a real paying oil field, and these men believe that the prospects are the best for such a field here. ' The exact location of the test well has not yet been decided upon but a group of the company's officials, headed by L. O. Roberta, president of the company, will arrive In Prlne vllle next Friday or Saturday for the purpose of going over the property and determining the location . and other improvements necessary to get an early start. Only Fault They Dont Have. . We have moments of depression ahout our dear old ladles in the elec tric limousines, as they lumber down the wrong side of the street and ne frbtlnte the turns In their own Inde pendent way, when we feel that ail i'Hii conscientiously say for them la time so far as we know, they never drive when under the influence of liquor. Ohio State Journal. Mountains Named for Indian Tribe. The Appalnchlsn mountain system .-reived its name froai the Appalachee r Apalachl Indians. Its highest point 'Mount Mitchell. In North Carolina, liich is 6,711 feel high. ' ' - i ' .1