132 ALASKAN MINERAL RESOURCES IN 1904. [bull. 259. 
The amount of authentic information which has been given out for 
publication regarding the wells is extremely small, but it is reported 
that none of the remaining five wells have produced oil in commercial 
quantities. It is furthermore said that none of them have reached 
depths exceeding 1,100 feet, in which case it may be assumed that the 
possibilities of the field have not yet been conclusively tested. 
Great difficulty has been experienced in all parts of the field in keep- 
ing the holes straight and free from water. These difficulties and the 
distance from all points where special fishing and repairing tools can 
be procured have made progress very slow and deep drilling some- 
times impossible. Perhaps some of the wells would have been more 
successful if they could have been continued to greater depths. 
Mr. F. H. Oliphant, in summarizing the developments during 1903, 
said of this field: a 
The developments in Alaska during 1903 have not resulted in any commercial pro- 
duction of petroleum, notwithstanding the numerous surface indications and the 
wells that have been completed in the supposed productive territory. The pros- 
pectors should not, however, be discouraged, although it may require patience and 
careful prospecting with the drill to tap the reservoirs, whose existence seems to be 
indicated by remarkable surface shows of both petroleum and natural gas. 
Three wells which were located on mud flats at some distance from 
high land or from exposure of solid rock had difficulty or did not i 
succeed in reaching bed rock. In two cases the drive pipe was sunk 
to depths of 210 and 580 feet through mud without reaching solid \ 
rock. These experiments show conclusively the inadvisability, in the 
present stage of development, of attempting to locate wells on the 
flats. After a field is proved, then the mud flats adjoining it longi- 
tudinally may be considered to have a speculative value. At present 
there is no indication that they are worth anything. 
Another illustration of the folly of investing in the low grounds, 
and also of investing without thorough investigation, is the case of a 
tract which was staked and sold for $1,700 during last winter. In 
the spring the supposed land floated and melted entirely away, the 
stakes having been driven in the ice off the shore of Controller j 
Bay. It is generally believed in the region that there was no intent 
to defraud. 
RELATION OF PETROLEUM TO STRUCTURE. 
Most of the more important seepages between Katalla and Bering 
River fall approximately on three straight lines, each having a genera ! 
northeast-southwest direction. These lines are nearly parallel to th< 
strike in their vicinity, and are undoubtedly influenced in positioi 
and direction by the structure. They probably represent the out' 
crops of oil-bearing strata. The easternmost of them is on th 
western flank, but very close to the crest of the Chilkat Creek anti 
a The production of petroleum in 1903: Mineral Resources U. S., p. 690. 
