408  CONTRIBUTIONS    TO    ECONOMIC    GEOLOGY,   1903.  [bull. 225. 
mile  south  of  Willow  Tree,  a  number  of  wells  have  been  sunk  to  the 
"Dunkard"  sand,  which  here  lies  at  a  depth  of  480  feet  below  the 
coal.  Many  of  these  were  successful  and  were  good  producers  at  the 
start,  but  the  caving  of  the  soft  shales  soon  gave  trouble  and  shut  off 
some  of  the  flows.  The  oil  in  the  upper  horizons  is  heavy  and  not  fit 
for  illuminating  purposes,  while  that  from  the  Dunkard  is  lighter, 
having  a  gravity  of  about  40°. 
The  Whiteley  Creek  field  is  located  west  of  the  Fayette  anticline 
near  the  point  where  the  axes  of  the  Lambert  syncline  and  Browns- 
ville anticline  merge  in  a  nearly  flat  structural  area.  The  oil  field  is 
on  the  western  rise  of  a  shallow  local  basin. 
Dunkard  Greek  field— -The  first  oil  field  in  Greene  County  was 
located  on  Dunkard  Creek,  about  2  miles  above  its  mouth.  A  number 
of  wells  were  drilled  here  between  1860  and  1864.  The  average  depth 
of  the  wells  was  less  than  500  feet,  because  oil  was  found  in  the  Dunk- 
ard sand  about  450  feet  below  the  Pittsburg  coal,  which  outcrops  along 
the  creek  at  this  point.  Some  of  the  wells  produced  very  largely  for 
a  time,  but,  having  been  drilled  without  casing,  the  soft  shaies  were 
soon  converted  to  mud  by  the  flow  of  oil  and  water,  and  the  wells  caved, 
thus  effectually  stopping  the  flow.  Had  the  wells  been  properly  cased 
the  history  of  the  field  would  have  been  different.  The  Dunkard 
Creek,  or  Bobtown,  field,  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  seems  to  be  located 
at  a  point  midwa}^  up  the  flank  of  the  Fayette  anticline,  where  for  a 
short  distance  the  structure  has  a  lower  grade  than  elsewhere  between 
Mount  Morris  and  the  Monongahela. 
Between  the  Dunkard  Creek  and  Mount  Morris  oil  fields  there  are 
a  number  of  gas  wells.  Th3se  wells  are  also  on  the  flank  of  the  Fay- 
ette anticline,  and  structurally  lower  than  one  oil  pool  and  higher  than 
the  other.  The  gas  in  these  wells  comes  from  the  Big  Injun  sand  at  a 
depth  of  about  1,400  feet  below  the  Pittsburg  coal. 
Mount  Morris  field. — A  long  line  of  oil  wells,  known  as  the  Man- 
nington-Mount  Morris  field,  which  is  so  extensively  developed  in  West 
Virginia,  extends  across  the  State  line,  through  Mount  Morris,  and 
across  Dunkard  Creek  toward  Davistown.  The  first  wells  in  this  field 
were  drilled  in  1886,  but  the  northern  extension  in  this  county  does 
not  date  back  farther  than  1892.  The  pool  along  Dunkard  Creek  is 
only  about  1,000  feet  wide,  but  very  rich,  producing  at  one  time  800 
barrels  a  day.  The  producing  sandstone  in  this  field  is  the  Big  Injun, 
the  first  pay  streak  being  about  100  feet  below  the  top  of  the  sand,  or 
1,3.80  feet  below  the  Pittsburg  coal.  The  Pittsburg  coal  in  the  Mount 
Morris  field  is  between  500  and  550  feet  above  tide,  or  300  feet  lower 
than  at  the  Dunkard  Creek  field. 
This  oil  pool  seems  to  be  located  close  to  the  base  of  the  western 
flank  of  the  Fayette  anticline.     At  least  a  small  synclinal  trough  can 
