Oklahoma Journeys
Week of June 23, 2007
Three Sands Oil Field Comes In, 1921
This week on Oklahoma Journeys: Celebrating our Centennial, we take a look at yet another spectacular oil discovery in Oklahoma and find out that it's sometimes okay to build your house upon sand. Dozens of speculators including future Oklahoma governor E.W. Marland made millions when they brought in the Three Sands Oil Field. That's the topic this week on Oklahoma Journeys from the Oklahoma Historical Society.
From the Oklahoma Historical Society, this is Oklahoma Journeys: Celebrating our Centennial. I'm Michael Dean.
Between 1897 and the 1920’s in Oklahoma it seemed like every week there came news of yet another massive oil or gas deposit found somewhere in the state. These findings started in the northeastern corner of the state and then moved south down the eastern half of the state. Until the 1920’s there wasn’t much oil prospecting taking place in north central Oklahoma. In the nineteen teens E. W. Marland, a young lawyer and extremely amateur geologist from Ponca City, began to investigate the possibility of finding oil reserves in that part of the state but without much initial success. A promising rock outcrop near Tonkawa looked enticing but the land belonged to the Ponca tribe and was considered a sacred burial spot. Local ranching and wild-west show entrepreneurs the Miller Brothers of the 101 Ranch, were honored and respected by the Ponca tribe and managed to secure drilling rights for the area, as long as special care was taken to avoid drilling into known grave sites. Lawyer turned wildcatter Marland took control of much of the work himself driving teams of horses and equipment out to the area, working through the muck and mud to begin the drilling and laying out a good portion of the financing. Along with the Miller Brothers, he stood to make or lose a lot of money. Drilling began on a disappointing note, with the first eight wells turning out to be dusters. On a lease owned by Ponca Indian Willie Cries-For-War the ninth and perhaps final well was started. It was in this week of 1921 that Willie Cries Number One as the well was called came gushing in.
The town of Three Sands came into being as the Three Sands Oil Field was officially off and running. The name Three Sands came from the fact that oil and gas was found in more than one strata or level of sand. In fact at Three Sands, which only covered eight square miles, oil and gas deposits were eventually found in more than twelve different strata, or layers, a fact that made the area a so-called “marvel of the petroleum world.” The oil came from Three Sands in enormous amounts and along with natural gas deposits made many people very wealthy. It was the find at Three Sands that provided E.W. Marland with his initial fortune and set him on the road to the governor’s mansion. Residents who owned the oil rich land also profited with some land owners turning down offers of two million dollars and more for their 160 acre plot. The oil boom at Three Sands lasted only a few short years but changed forever the lives of many Oklahomans.
You can learn more about Governor Marland in our governors of Oklahoma centennial exhibit at the Oklahoma History Center, NE 23rd street just east of the state capitol in Oklahoma City. And you can see both the outdoor and indoor exhibits on the oil and gas industry and what it has meant to Oklahoma. Oklahoma Journeys: Celebrating our Centennial is a production of the Oklahoma Historical Society dedicated to the collection, preservation, and sharing of our state’s past. I’m Michael Dean.