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(Below) A veteran of the gold rush to freighted over the mountains from
Alaska. This river boat, the "Oil City," the wells to the refineries, in sec-
sailed from Seattle to Alaska in charge of
J. C. Fitzsimmons, carrying kerosene, can- ond-hand wooden barrels.
dles, and other petroleum products to be After three years of heart-break-
exchanged for the miners' gold dust. It re- ing exploitation and attempts to
quired considerable nerve to operate this refine oil in those lonely moun-
craft in the north Pacific
tains, even the cheerful-minded
Scofield shook his head dismally,
for the expense of producing and
manufacturing was exceeding the
returns. But this able leader was
not daunted. He went to his asso-
ciates in San Francisco and in-
formed them that either the Pico
Canyon enterprise must cease, its
derricks rot, and its equipment
turn red with rust, as had been
the outcome of certain predeces-
sors, or more money must be had.
Scofield believed implicitly in
California as an oil producer, and
his extreme confidence prevailed.
With additional capital, such men
as Senator C. N. Felton, Lloyd
(Left) The first steel oil tanker built and
operated on the Pacific Coast and the sec- Tevis, and George Loomis joined
ond built in the United States. It was forces with Scofield.
launched by the Pacific Coast Oil Co. in
1895, and was named the "George Loomis" A NEW concern was incorporated,
in honor of the company's second president.
The oil tanker's capacity was rt known as the Pacific Coast
6500 barrels Oil Company. This was on Septem-
ber 10, 1879. Felton was the presi-
dent, and Scofield general man-
ager. It is that date with which
begins the corporat'3 existence of
the Standard Oil Company in
California. The little field bustled
anew-hope rose again in the tiny
settlement of Mentryville: house-
wives once more sang happily, and
children romped gaily in play, for
they need not leave their mountain
homes. New wells were sunk in the
adjacent Wiley Canyon with a
reward of early production. Bunk-
houses sprang up here, as did long
stables for many mules and horses.
Production soon climbed to six
hundred barrels a day. A two-inch
pipe-line was laid in the latter
part of 1880:...._the first oil line in
California. It led from the wells
in Pico Canyon to Elayon, where
railroad loading-racks were con-
structed, for the Southern Pacific
Company had in the meanwhile
linked the south with San Fran-
cisco.
With high hopes, plans were de-
(Above) The Standard Oil Company's second California refinery-- properly named veloped for a large refinery on
El Segundo- was begun in 1911. The subject of this photograph is the excavation for
foundations of the first battery of crude stills San Francisco Bay, and this was
quickly erected on the westerly
(Below) In the latest model automobiles, Standard Oil executives inspected the site point of Alameda. With the com-
of the Company's third refinery, at Bakersfield, adjacent to the Kern River oil fields.
The date is October, 1912 pletion of this refinery, the plants