STATE GEOLOGIST. 149 
proprietors to search for salt-water. It being invariably found to ac- 
company, all the salt-water, of any consequence, that has been discharged 
in this western country. 
“Tt is this discharge of gas that brings the salt-water from such vast 
depths in the bowels of the earth, to the surface. And where water has 
been discovered, and the supply of gas has failed, the water has imme- 
diately sunk in the well, and could not, by any means used, be brought 
again to the top of the well.” 
Just as Washington county was one of the first producers of oil, like- 
wise Marietta, the county seat, was one of the first distributors. The 
principal supply was derived, however, from West Virginia and not from 
Ohio. One of the pioneer firms was Bosworth, Wells & Co., who began 
purchasing the crude material from Bushford W. Creel, of Hughes 
River, West Virginia, in 1847 and continued until 1860. The firm shipped 
the oil to Pittsburg, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York, St. Louis, Peoria, 
Chicago and Cincinnati. From 1848 to 1857 the firm received 33 cents 
per gallon for the oil, and from 1857 to 1860 40 cents per gallon.t The 
opening of the Pennsylvania field in 1859 destroyed the business of Bos- 
worth, Wells & Co., in so far as it depended on the shipment of crude 
oil from the Hughes river territory. 
While the crude material may have been used by the drillers and 
farmers adjacent to the wells for illuminating, it is probable that the 
chief demand for the oil in distant cities was for medicinal and lubricating 
purposes. It is said that large quantities were used in the manufacture 
of the Mexican Mustang and other liniments. The crude oil was at that 
day regarded as an excellent remedy for rheumatism, and indeed many 
so regard it at the present time. 
The discovery of oil in large quantities in Pennsylvania in 1859 stim- 
ulated investigation wherever surface indications, consisting of oil float- 
ing on streams, or filling sands in valleys, or the escape of gas through 
crevices in rocks, were found. Among the tracts of this kind in Wash- 
ington county was the valley of Duck Creek at Macksburg, in the extreme 
northern corner and the insignificant valley of Cow Run, in Lawrence 
township. Mr. I. W. Minshall? has already published an interesting ac- 
count of the early developments in this field, but since this report is now 
out of print, the salient points are restated here with such additional data 
as the writer has been able to secure. 
Discovery of Oil at Macksburg.—This was one of the first fields de- 
veloped after the discovery in Pennsylvania. In the fall of 1860 Messrs. 
James Dutton, Alden T. Warren and John Smithson decided to drill a 
well on the land of William Rayley, situated in the valley of Duck creek, 
about one-half mile below Macksburg. The method of drilling was of the 
1W. Va. Geol. Sur., Vol. I, p. 142, I. C. White. 
2Geol. Sur. of Ohio, Vol. VI, Chap. 6. 
