Oil at the Toyn ranch: Arbon Valley's first oil test, 1921–1922

In June 1921 a Pocatello company began drilling Arbon Valley's first oil test on Thomas S. Toyn's ranch, about six miles south of the Pauline store, and on June 25 and 26 the valley invited its neighbors to celebrate at the well. The American Falls Press, the Power County seat's weekly, followed the well for sixteen months, usually spelling the family's name Toyne.

A company from Pocatello

The Idaho Research and Development Co., with headquarters at Pocatello, filed its articles of incorporation in June 1920 with a capital stock of $1,000,000. George Stoll Sr., a Pocatello accountant, had raised money for a survey that, by the company's account, traced oil seeps west to a "dome" under Arbon Valley. Among the first subscribers was Lorenzo B. Evans of Arbon, the early settler Ren Evans.

"There is some talk here about drilling for oil," the Arbon column reported on May 6, 1921. "Most of the Arbonites think seeing is believing." In the same column Stoll was the guest of Mr. and Mrs. Toyn, who had probably bought the former Ripley ranch in 1920. By June the company held over 35,000 acres of leases and had raised enough money to buy machinery to drill to 3,600 feet. Its derrick went up on the Toyn ranch, said to sit on the dome, and by Sunday, June 12, Charles Hughes, an Oklahoma oil man, was drilling the first oil well in that territory.

Two days at the Toyn ranch

The Press announced that barbecue, ball games, horse races, dancing, fireworks, chicken dinners and an automobile excursion would "usher the oil industry into Arbon Valley and incidentally entertain the people of American Falls, Pocatello, Rockland, Holbrook, Malad and a score of other towns." Food and sleeping quarters were free, though visitors were asked to bring their own bedding. The paper urged everyone to go, though its editorial doubted the well:

We are naturally skeptical about the finding of oil on the Toyne Ranch near Pauline. The probabilities are that a dry hole will result from the drilling. But there is the big chance, the one worth taking, that there is oil buried several thousand feet below the crust of the earth. A few thousand dollars may be invested in a dry hole. Then again a great oil district may be opened to the world, bringing with it untold wealth, overnight fortunes, industrial developement, and progress.

The celebration, it added, was no stock-selling scheme, only a sign that the valley's people were "awake to their possibilities."

About 800 people came on Saturday and about 1,200 on Sunday, many of them driving "twenty to sixty miles to be there." Hughes "entertained every visitor at least once with a narration of the drilling activities and the proximate location of oil in the valley." The well was 100 feet down, and drilling had stopped until casing, the steel pipe that lines a well, could be supplied to shut off a heavy flow of water.

Saturday brought barbecued steers. Pauline, the Arbon Bears and a Daniels team played ball, and Senator Harding of Malad "told graphically of the early pioneer days when the first settlers had come to the valley." On Sunday the valley's women served a chicken dinner, the visitors toured the valley, and American Falls beat the Arbon Bears 21 to 6. Early in the week sixty men had built a dance floor and a shelter, apparently roofed with wild hay. An editorial praised the women of Arbon, Pauline and Crystal for feeding the crowds and allowed that "Oil may not be found at the Toyne ranch in Arbon."

Pockets, shows and promises

By November Z. D. Terry of Fort Worth, Texas, was in charge of the drilling, and the accounts began to differ. A Pocatello report in the Salt Lake Tribune said that the oil struck in the well had proved merely a pocket, the second the drill had met (the damaged print mentions one at 207 feet); it flowed for a day and gave out. The Press, on the company's account, said a flow of several barrels on November 10 had been cased off so the drill could go on to 2,000 feet, "where the company expects to hit a gusher perhaps." The company's more than 150 stockholders were "mostly Pocatello and Arbon citizens," and Evans was its vice president.

Around the turn of the year Evans was out selling stock. In January 1922 he claimed a showing of crude oil at 245 feet, coming up with a strong flow of water. Ranchers who had leased their land had "flattering offers to sell their leases to outside parties," and the Press predicted that if Arbon struck oil, "the entire county will be drilled out." Thirty-four men of American Falls and Rockland, he announced, had subscribed for stock in what the paper now called "the Arbon Oil Company." The paper did not explain the name.

In March the company spoke of "test wells in every part of the valley" and a refinery once the first well came in. In July a Press article claimed the well had passed through three layers of oil and that an oil expert "of Pittsburg" put the main oil zone at about 12,000 feet. The writer foresaw "one of the biggest booms known to oil in recent years."

The geologist's verdict

That summer the state bureau of mines and geology sent its petroleum geologist, Virgil R. D. Kirkham, to the Arbon and Rockland valleys. His October report found rocks of an age favorable to oil and "a good anticline dome structure," an upward arch in the rock layers, outlined by the valley walls, but much faulting nearby. It went on:

There are in the state areas of greater promise, but there are possibilities in Arbon valley. This region is being tested by a well belonging to the Idaho Research and Development company of Pocatello. As yet they have not passed through the covering of volcanic and lake bed material and can expect no results until after penetrating the under-lying carboniferous limestone.

The papers searched carry no later report of the Toyn ranch well, its final depth or its end. The company was later named, without explanation, among the defendants in two foreclosure suits, on Jenks land near Pauline in 1923 and on the Toyn ranch in 1925. In December 1923 a second company, the Gem State Petroleum Co., with L. B. Evans among its backers, unloaded a 75-ton rig at Pocatello for another test in Arbon Valley.

The article as printed

American Falls Press, July 1, 1921, page 1. Transcribed from the page scan.

CALL OF ARBON VALLEY PEOPLE
TWO DAY CELEBRATION OVER OPENING OF OIL RESOURCES ATTENDED BY PEOPLE FROM EVERY NEARBY SECTION—PROGRAM INTERESTING.
1200 PRESENT SATURDAY
Splendid Program Testified To Initiative And Hospitality Of Power County Farmers—Wonderful Valley Made Beautiful By Thousands Of Acres Of Growing Crops.
A glowing testimony to the initiative and hospitality of the people of Arbon Valley was enacted Saturday and again Sunday when several hundred visitors accepted their broadcast invitation to picnic and get acquainted at the Toyne ranch seven miles south of Pauline.
The weather was ideal for the occasion, a slight and refreshing breeze wiping away the dullness of the atmosphere. The crowd of some 800 people that joined in the festivities Saturday was replaced Sunday with a crowd estimated at 1,200. Every road into the valley was littered with visiting teams and automobiles on their way to the Toyne ranch. By mid afternoon the dust became bothersome from the incessant traffic in all directions, but not objectionable enough to allay the spirits of the interested crowd of visitors.
Driller On The Job
Driller Hughes entertained every visitor at least once with a narration of the drilling activities and the approximate location of oil in the valley. The rig he is overseeing is now down to a depth of 100 feet and drilling operations are suspended until casing can be supplied to keep out the heavy flow of water.
The real program for the two days began at 2 p. m. Saturday when the announcement was made that the big fat steers that had been barbecued, were ready for service. The tender juicy meat of the bovines was soon dissipated by the hungry visitors, many of whom had driven twenty to sixty miles to be there.
Pauline [illegible]
Following the barbecue was a ball game between Pauline and the Arbon Bears, then another game with the Daniels team. Pauline annexed the last game three to two in a ninth inning rally. The Cubs had been taken into camp with a comfortable margin of victory.
Senator Harding of Malad addressed the gathering following the ball game and told graphically of the early pioneer days when the first settlers had come to the valley. Interspersed during the afternoon were vocal selections in the [illegible] meeting places, and bucking contests and horse races in the arena.
Chicken A La Picnic
The Sunday crowd began to arrive early from every section of the county. American Falls contributed largely to the crowd, some thirty automobiles making the trip.
It was in every respect a tribute to the valley [illegible] The chicken dinner [illegible] women of the [illegible] who labored [illegible] in making it a success.
Then came the tour of the valley and the afternoon ball game between American Falls and the Bears, an account of which is published elsewhere in this issue of the Press.
Sixty men responded early in the week and built a dance floor and shelter for the crowd that was expected. Wild hay was thrown over a frame of scantling, water was provided and made easily accessible, and the comfort of the visitors looked after in every way.
Praise For Arbonites
Local people returned late Sunday evening filled with praise for the royal reception tendered by the Arbon Valley people and the resolve to visit their wonderfully productive valley more often. Not the least attractive part of the trip was the ride through the valley. Green wheat fields are contrasted everywhere with weedless summer fallow that testifies mutely to the excellent farming in the community [illegible]

On this site: the first oil well, the foreclosures of 1920–1925, the Evans family, and the Pauline and West Fork area history.