- HAworrH.] Oil-wells and Gas-wells. 181 
the spring of 1903, when oil in Chautauqua county sold at 
$1.38 a barrel. This period of high prices lasted but a short 
time until the price was cut to as low as 40 cents, and through- 
out the greater part of 1906 and 1907 and thus far in 1908 
it has been from 41 cents to 42 cents for the best oil in the 
entire territory. : | 
A third reason of considerable importance for the great 
falling off in production was the comparatively heavy oil 
produced in many places about Chanute and Humboldt. 
Some of this oil graded from 30° B. to above 32° B. 
During the latter part of the year 1903 the Prairie Oil Com- 
pany, for the purpose of grading oils, drew an east and west 
line through the middle of Wilson and Neosho counties, and 
classed all oils north of this as heavy oils and those south as 
light, with a corresponding difference in price. This was a 
hard blow to the Neosho river valley oils, and of course had a 
tendency to curtail development and production. Later they 
began buying strictly on a gravity basis, and have continued 
on this basis to the present time. They grade all oils with a 
gravity of 32° B. and upward in one class and pay a certain 
price. For oils heavier they deduct a certain amount for each 
half degree or fraction thereof. This discrimination so dis- 
couraged producers whose wells produced heavy oil that it 
was one of the principal causes for the development work and 
production to decline so rapidly. 
It was in July, 1903, that the first oil was found near Bol- 
ton, southwest of Independence. A number of remarkable 
wells were soon produced, some of which flowed at the rate of 
1000 barrels per day. The history of this development has 
already been given in the interesting letter written by Hon. 
G. L. Banks, of Independence. These strong wells retained 
their flow only a few weeks and declined quite rapidly to pump- 
ing propositions. At the present time no wells in Montgom- 
ery county are producing very much, the decline being due 
in part to heavy oil predominating, in part to the decrease in 
price, and in part to the supply of oil being so nearly ex- 
hausted. 
The longevity of gas-wells seems to be quite different from 
that of oil-wells. In general, the life of a gas-well is much 
greater. Here, however, we find considerable variation. The 
first large gas-field to be developed was at Iola. The history 
of this field, as already given, was that the first large wells 
