SANTA CLARA VALLEY : ELSMERE FIELD. 
99 
well an oil sand was encountered at 570 feet, but not until 600 feet 
was reached did the yield become sufficient to justify pumping. In 
this well sand and cobbles are reported nearly all the way down, 
although it is probable that in the lower portion some adobe or clay 
was encountered. It is almost certain that the adobe reported in this 
locality is but a clay body of considerable extent held in the sandstone 
and conglomerate. It may, however, correspond in a measure to the 
great body of blue clay observed in Pico Canyon between the lowest 
conglomerate of the Fernando formation and those next higher. 
Other wells were in process of drilling by these companies, but were 
unfinished at the time of the writer’s visit. 
ELSMERE RIDGE WELLS. 
The depth of the wells on the crest of Elsmere Ridge (see PLVII, B) 
is said to be approximately 1,000 feet, but the information is some¬ 
what indefinite. They are sunk in heavy sandstone and conglomerate 
which strike with the crest of the ridge, north and south, and dip 
25° W. The source of the oil is probably near the base of the Fer¬ 
nando beds, and the production is not heavy. The gravity of the oil 
is reported as about 14° B. 
ELSMERE CANYON WELLS. 
Of the 15 wells in Elsmere Canyon, which belong to the Pacific 
Coast Oil Company, but little was learned. Seven were said to be pro¬ 
ductive, yielding from 7 to 75 barrels a day. They are reported to 
range from 400 to nearly 1,000 feet in depth. Soon after the writer’s 
visit (1902) the company abandoned its property in this field. 
NETTLETON & KELLERMAN, WELLS. 
In the shallow gulch immediately north of Elsmere Canyon, per¬ 
haps a mile distant from the Elsmere wells, is a group of three wells 
owned by Nettleton & Kellerman. Two of these are unproductive, 
the other yields 10 barrels per day, deriving its supply from a depth of 
1,100 feet. The gravity of the oil is 20° B. The strike of the meas¬ 
ures is here N. 70° E. and the dip 23° N. The source of the oil is 
probably one of the lower members of the Fernando formation. 
WELL SOUTH OF RIDGE CREST. 
On the southern slope of the San Gabriel Range, about a mile east- 
southeast of Fernando Pass, is a well drilled near a brea deposit. It 
is abandoned and its history was not investigated. It is located on 
the outcrop of the Fernando formation, but if any considerable depth 
was reached it may have passed into Vaqueros beds. 
