HAWORTH. | Discoveries of Oil and Gas. 33 
acreage of leases given up. Later the Prairie Oil and Gas 
Company obtained a strong gas-well about sixteen miles to 
the west and laid pipes into Chanute to supply the city with 
gas. This, in connection with discoveries made elsewhere in 
the state, stimulated the citizens of Chanute to continue their 
investigations. The city took up the matter and drilled a few 
wells in the Neosho valley to the east of town. They met with 
fair success, each well passing through an oil-sand at about 
730 feet. After passing through forty feet of shale, the drill 
reached a gas-sand which yielded gas at the rate of from one 
million to three or four million cubic feet per day. Drilling 
was continued by the city until a satisfactory supply of gas 
was obtained for lighting and heating. It is interesting to 
note that this is the only city in the entire oil- and gas-fields of 
the state which owns its gas supply. It has made very low 
rates, as shown later, and yet derives sufficient income to make 
many municipal improvements. 
While investigating the Kansas oil-fields in 1899, Mr. I. N. 
Knapp had his attention called to the showing of oil in these 
city gas-wells. He considered the showing sufficiently favor- 
able to warrant him in prospecting for oil. Accordingly he 
obtained leases over quite a wide area and began prospecting 
both east and west of the city of Chanute. It was but a short 
time until he had a number of fair oil-wells in the valley east 
of town and in June, 1900, he began shipping oil to Omaha and 
Kansas City gas companies where he obtained contracts. This 
_ was really the beginning of the oil development in the vicinity 
of Chanute. 
Mr. Knapp was followed by a company composed principally 
of local business men and citizens of Iola, who organized the 
Neosho Valley Development Company, obtained leases, and be- 
gan drilling. They had fair success from the start and soon 
had a number of producing wells. They were soon followed 
by a company composed principally of Kansas City business 
men, who organized the Southwestern Development Company, 
which likewise secured leases in the river valley and met with 
fair success in obtaining oil. From this time on the develop- 
ment was rapid. At the end of a year there were derricks and 
pipe-lines all along the valley to the east and north of Chanute, 
and half way to Humboldt. In the midsummer of 1902, the 
Prairie Oil and Gas Company built a large storage-tank at 
Chanute with a capacity of almost 40,000 barrels. This was 
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