Just below the derrick, shown in the picture on the following page, is a hole 3,250 feet deep which is all that remains of a $75,000 investment made in 1927 and 1928 when the "oil fever" hit the people of Foster County and a test well was sunk at Glenfield, 22 miles east of Carrington.
The total cost reached the neighborhood of $75,000 in two years time. The drill stopped at 3,250 feet after pounding the last 100 feet thru a granite or bed rock formation, and the long string of casings was pulled up. The plan of "shooting" the well at the 2,240 foot level, where strong gas and oil showings had been found, was abandoned. Drilling ended when word came from the geological bureau at Washington, D. C., that the cuttings (rock samples) were of the pre-Cambrian era and that oil had never been found beneath that strata.
Excitement reached a high pitch in March 1928, when the well had reached a depth of 3,000 feet, and warm water began to flow at a volume of two million gallons a day. The heat of the water increased from 50 to 85 degrees. At times heavy traces of oil were found in the water. A McHenry man moved a cook car to the well and began making big money serving lunches to the visitors.
According to Dr. Leonard of the North Dakota state university, it was the first time a well had ever been drilled below the Dakota sandstone; and (at that time) it was the deepest by 1,500 feet of any hole ever drilled in North Dakota. The site was first selected by J. H. Walker, geologist from Washington, D. C. The drilling contract was held by Thorpe Brothers of Des Moines, Iowa, and A. D. Thompson was in general charge of drilling operations. No particular effort was made to sell stock. The well was a purely local development project, organized under the name of the Central North Dakota Development company. The company took out 10 year leases on several thousand acres of land in the area.
Source: Glenfield History 1886 – 1987 Page 62
Speculation for oil in the area has been going on since 1926, when stocks were sold to get $50,000 to drill a test well 3,850 feet at a location 2 1/2 miles west of Glenfield. People from New Rockford, Cooperstown, Carrington, as well as in the immediate area, raised the necessary funds to set up the rig to do the drilling.
A thorough investigation was made by a geologist who designated the area pre-glacial drift. He reported that he had seldom seen ground that gave better indications of being prospective oil bearing land. He estimated the depth necessary to drill to strike the flow at between 3,500 and 4,000 feet.
The test hole was dug and no oil was found.
The next excitement about oil was reported in the Independent, August 23, 1928. An instrument called a "Doodlebug" which was invented by George W. Perry of Los Angeles, was brought into the state by the Herman Hanson Oil Syndicate at Turtle Lake. Rev. N. E. Hanson of Carrington, the son of Herman Hanson, took Mr. Perry to Glenfield to test the area with the "Doodlebug."
The, "Doodlebug", a nickname for the testing instrument, is a cylinder an inch and a half in diameter and about eight inches long. It is filled with chemicals and is suspended from a chemically treated silk cord. It is hung in a large glass bowl to prevent any action on it by wind. The operator can test for any mineral or metal he desires.
To test for oil, the operator takes a piece of chamois skin saturated with crude oil and places it at the top of a finger. Around the chamois and finger he wraps a silken a dozen times and this supports the finger on a tripod. He has no control over the "Doodlebug." If there is oil directly beneath the instrument it stops swinging almost instantly. If no oil is present it swings in the direction of the closest large body of oil even if it is hundreds of miles away.
The instrument can be varied, thus: if the oiled chamois is replaced by a copper penny, the "Doodlebug" will search for copper, even detecting a few pennies in a man's pocket nearby by its motions. But if the pennies are not close, the "Doodlebug" will swing in the direction of the Montana cooper mines. By using a dime, the bug is agitated by silver coins in pockets. It oscillated slightly for one man; when a number joined hands, it is agitated very much more.
If the metal or oil or water sought is close underneath the bug, its pendulum motion stops quickly. If the substance sought does not exist near where the bug is being worked, it will start itself to swinging without other help.
As a result of the test of the "Doodlebug" a well was put down and a river, 60 feet wide was discovered. The feeling was that if they would get away from the river, then oil would be found. Still no oil
In the early 1950s, seismograph crews appeared on the scene, making more tests and more reports, which stated that this area is Winnipeg sandstone and that is a most likely place for the accumulation of oil. The rock structure too was favorable for oil bearing. As a result of these reports drilling outfits again came to the county in 1953, drilling wells throughout the county with the results being either dry holes or else water. Once again, no oil!
In the February 20, 1974 issue of the Foster County Independent story appeared telling about the Cardinal Petroleum Co., coming to drill a test well in Wyard Township. They drilled to a depth of 2,400 feet, made the determination that it was a dry hole, and capped the hole.
In 1981, the Dover Oil Co., came to the county and drilled many random holes. Once again land was leased by various companies in the county.
Is there oil in Foster County? That question still remains unanswered.
Source: Glenfield History 1886 – 1987 Page 63
In Holdup at Glenfield
Two Men Kept Four on Floor While
Sack was Filled With Cash, Papers
ASKS TO SEE BOOKS AS
LITTLE CASH FOUND
Mrs. Urban Smiles, Peeks, and Gets Good Description of Polite Pair
October 18, 1928 - The First State Bank of Glenfield, eastern Foster Co., was held up Tuesday forenoon by two gentlemanly bandits and robbed of about $800. In addition the bandits took a grain sack full of papers from safety deposit boxes and the bank vault.
Not until Cashier Berg. T. Urban showed them the bank's books were they satisfied that they had secured all the cash on hand in the bank.
The entire affair occupied only 10 or 15 minutes. It is believed the two men drove north from Glenfield on the McHenry road but as there was another car in town very similar to the one used by the bandits it is not certain in which direction they fled.
Had not a Great Northern passenger train been late Tuesday forenoon the bandits would have secured a much greater sum of money as a goodly consignment of cash was being shipped in on that train.
Source: Glenfield History 1886 – 1987 Page 64
To Mr. and Mrs. Urban and Jack Miller, who were in the bank at the time, the outstanding thing in the holdup was the very apparent refinement and gentlemanliness of both men. Not a coarse word was spoken and only once or twice, when disappointed with the amount of cash found, did the bandits seem to show anger.
By frequently looking up with a smile from her prosterated position, face downward on the floor, Mrs. Urban was able to get a very good description of both men and is confident she could easily identify them if they are ever found.
Once when she raised her head too high to look, one bandit rapped her gently on the head with the butt of his revolver, but it was not a hard rap and Mrs. Urban interpreted it that the bandits wished to impress on her that he wished to be kind but firm.
The two bandits are described as follows:
The taller of them was six feet tall weighing 175 pounds, black hair, brown eyes, pointed face, well dressed but had on new overalls, 30 to 35 years old.
The shorter man was five feet six inches high, wore a blue overcoat and cap, handsomely dressed like a city dude, weighed 160 pounds, about the same age as taller man.
The bandits did not wear masks and during the entire time except once, talked in low natural tones.
An unusual incident of the robbery was toward the end when the tall man who was doing the looting made Mr. Urban give up his pocketbook. He opened it, found no money but tossed it into 'his sack.
He then turned to Jack Miller, who has been a driller on the Glenfield well. Miller handed him his purse, a valuable leather one on which was embossed the Masonic emblem. The bandit opened it up, saw it was stuffed with letters and papers and then glanced at the Masonic emblem. He immediately placed back every scrap of paper with great care and handed the purse to Mr. Miller.
It was about 10 o'clock Tuesday morning when the bandits arrived in a blue Chrysler coupe. They drove down Main Street in Glenfield, up a side street and then parked at the side of the bank. They stepped to the front door where they found Mr. Urban, cashier, engaged in cleaning the glass in the door.
Noting their clean cut appearance, he graciously opened the door for them and they stepped in. Immediately one of them, the taller man, stuck a gun to Mr. Urban's ribs and ordered him to get behind the bank counter. The shorter man took charge of Mrs. Urban, then engaged in making up a remittance sheet, and Mr. Miller and the trio were taken behind the counter and ordered to lay flat on the floor. The commands came in mild, gentlemanly tones.
Scooping up all the cash that could be found at the counter and in the vault, the tall bandit then ordered Mr. Urban to designate to him the safety deposit boxes in which money and bonds might be found. It was at this point only that the bandit spoke loudly or harshly.
Getting an unsatisfactory answer as to the boxes that might contain valuables they could use, the bandit made Mr. Urban show first his own deposit box which he opened and rifled. He later went thru the other boxes, tearing off the lids, keeping parts of the contents and throwing the balance on the floor.
Feeling that more cash should have been on hand, the bandit next ordered Mr. Urban to show the bank's books so he could see for himself the amount of cash on hand and demanded to know why so little cash was there at this time of year. It was explained to him that the shipment of currency expected was not there as the train bringing it was late that morning.
The tall bandit became mad with so little loot in sight and again poked his gun into Mr. Urban's ribs, starting then to tear out everything in the vault in the hope of finding money concealed therein.
It was at this point only that Mrs. Urban became excited, fearing that the bandit in his rage would shoot her husband.
A minute or two later Lee Dunbar, Glenfield farmer, stepped into the bank and a big surprise at the same time. The shorter man, who stood just inside the doorway as a watchman, poked his gun into Mr. Dunbar's side and ordered him back of the counter and to lay flat with the other three.
Mrs. Urban took occasion then to raise her head well up for a look around and from the nattily dressed shorter man she got a smile but the taller bandit tapped her on the head with his revolver and ordered her to lay flatter.
The robbery had now been about completed. Between $400 and $500 of the bank's cash was in silver and this alone made a fair weight. The balance was in currency, it all being dumped into the sack along with a great quantity of papers. The sack was fairly well filled.
Several thousands of dollars in endorsed checks that Mrs. Urban was listing when the robbery started were not touched by the bandits.
The paper taken from deposit boxes and the bank vault will be of little, if any, value to the bandits, it is thought. The loss of the papers will make it inconvenient for the bank and its customers until duplicates can be fixed up or new papers secured to take the place of those stolen.
After being at work possibly 15 minutes, the two men ordered the four people off the floor and into the bank's vault where they were commanded to again lay flat on the floor.
In anticipation of such a situation as she then found herself in, Mrs. Urban had fixed the vault door so that it could not be locked from the outside. The bandits, however, ordered Mr. Urban to fix the locks.
The four people were then locked in and could not hear a sound as the bandits left the building.
A little later Mrs. Hoggarth stepped into the bank and was called to by Mr. Urban. By that time he had about unscrewed the lock from the inside of the vault door and in a minute or two more was able to open the door.
Two or three farmers along the road to McHenry are certain the bandits went north from Glenfield on the state road. They seem to describe the car accurately but one farmer thought two men were in the coupe, while another recalled seeing but one man.
Whether the bandits had accomplices outside the bank at the time of the robbery is not certain. The prevailing opinion at Glenfield is that there were two blue Chrysler coupes in the town at the same time but this is not certain.
One of the cars stopped at the highway gas station at the north edge of town and ordered six gallons of gasoline. This quantity was more than enough to fill the tank and part of the last gallon ran out onto the ground.
It is possible the two cars had no connection with each other.
Tuesday's holdup of the First State Bank at Glenfield was the second bank robbery in the history of the county and the first one to be perpetrated in broad daylight.
About 15 years ago, m September, the Bank of Melville was entered at night and the safe blown. No trace was ever obtained of those robbers.
The loss at the Glenfield Bank was very small and will not exceed $800. The bank carried holdup insurance that will fully reimburse them for the loss.
The work of straightening out the papers and documents will be a big job and take considerable time.
When the bandits left the bank it is reported to have looked like a cyclone had attacked the interior, the floor being strewn with papers, books, etc.
Within a few minutes after the vault door was opened and the prisoners were out of it, a phone message was sent to the officers at Carrington and they immediately went out to search.
With only the most meager clues to work on as to the directions the bandits took and the big start they already had, no definite trace was found by Sheriff Cusack and assistants.
Source: Glenfield History 1886 – 1987 Page 64