The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture
IDA GLENN NUMBER ONE.
The discovery well of the Glenn Pool Field, the Ida Glenn Number One was located in Tulsa County, some four miles southeast of Sapulpa. Robert Galbreath, a veteran of the Red Fork and Cleveland oil fields, obtained a lease on the Creek allotment of Ida E. Glenn in 1904. In compensation she and her husband, Robert Glenn, received forty-five dollars and were guaranteed a one-eighth share of any petroleum or natural gas produced.
Work at the well site began in autumn 1905. Although the operation was partly financed by Tulsan Frank Chesley, Galbreath lacked funds, and the Ida Glenn Number One was drilled without casing. On November 22, 1905, the rig struck oil at an approximate depth of 1,481 feet, and the well produced seventy-five to eighty-five barrels of crude daily. Efforts to keep the gusher a secret failed. As a result, Glenn Pool, named in honor of the Glenns, developed into Oklahoma's first major oil field.
Joined by Charles F. Colcord and Tulsan John O. Mitchell, Galbreath and Chesley formed the Creek Oil Company. Casing was added to the Ida Glenn Number One, and by April 1906 the well was producing some eighty-five barrels of oil each day.
See Also
Learn More
Kenny A. Franks, The Oklahoma Petroleum Industry (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1980).
Kenny A. Franks, The Rush Begins: A History of the Red Fork, Cleveland and Glenn Pool Oil Fields (Oklahoma City: Oklahoma Heritage Association, 1984).
Carl Coke Rister, Oil! Titan of the Southwest (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1949).
Citation
The following (as per The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition) is the preferred citation for articles:
Jon D. May, “Ida Glenn Number One,” The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=ID001.
Published January 15, 2010
© Oklahoma Historical Society
