J.W. McKinley, writing to the Pittsburg _Dispatch_, gives the following account of the California oil field at Newhall:
On the edge of the town is located the refinery of the company, connected by pipe lines with the wells, a few miles distant. Leaving Newhall, we drove to Pico Cañon, the principal producing territory of the region. As we approached, we saw, away up on the peaks, the tall derricks in places which looked inaccessible; but no spot is out of reach of American enterprise and perseverance. In one of the wildest spots of the cañon, about thirty men were making the mountains echo to the strokes of their hammers upon the iron plates of a new 20,000 barrel tank. Along the cañon are scattered the houses of the employes of the company, most of whom have recently come from Pennsylvania. Near one of the houses was a graded and leveled croquet ground, with a little oil tank on a post, for lighting it at night. Farther up we came to a cluster of producing wells, with others at a little distance on the sides of the mountains, or even at the top, hundreds of feet above our heads.
The first well was put down about eight years ago, but more has been accomplished in the last two years than in all the time previous. One well which we visited has produced 130,000 barrels in the last three years, and is still yielding. There have been no very large wells, the best being 250 per day, and the average being about 90 barrels, but they keep up their production, with scarcely any diminution from year to year. Drilling has been found difficult, as a great portion of the rock is broken shale lying obliquely. The tools slip to one side very easily, and a number of "crooked holes" have resulted. One driller lost his tools altogether in a well, and finished it with new ones. The cost of putting down a well is from $5,000 to $7,000, depending upon depth, etc. Most of the wells are from 1,200 to 1,500 feet, but some have yielded at a much less depth. One well of 270 feet depth produced 40 barrels per day for about three years, has been deepened, and is now yielding even more. Another one of 800 feet is said to have produced 200,000 barrels in the last five or six years. Drilling has been very successful in striking oil in paying quantities wherever there were indications of its presence.