Hat Creek Oil Company Records

The Hat Creek Oil Company was incorporated by the state of South Dakota on May 24th, 1917, and was owned and operated by a group of men from Lead who were also employed by the Homestake Mining Company. The officers and directors of the company included: B.C. Yates, Chambers Kellar, C.A. Seeley, Ralph W. Bonney, and L.M. McBride. The men had purchased the oil and mineral leases for 1,720 acres of land in Fall River County from the Ardmore Oil Company on the Ardmore Anticline. The area was believed to have a wealth of oil and coal and companies such as Norbeck-Nicholson Company had obtained oil at a depth of 2,260 feet.

The owners of Hat Creek Oil Company noted that they would have no need for expensive pipeline construction as the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad ran across the land. This meant transportation of any oil or coal would be less expensive and shipments to the oil field would be more affordable. With these apparent promises of quick profit, 100,000 shares of treasury stock were placed on the market at the price of $0.25 each. In late October the company urged interested buyers to travel to Ardmore to see the operation. Site Manager L.M. McBride offered private tours to all interested parties as soon as the drilling rig was in place. In November, only 27,000 stocks were left unpurchased.

1918 brought a number of problems for the company. Competitors, like the Shiloh Oil and Rig Company, were drilling faster and more successfully. Equipment broke down often forcing the company to borrow from Ardmore Oil, Shiloh Oil, and Norbeck-Nicholson. Stormy weather halted drilling frequently during the spring and early summer and funds weren’t available to pay employees. That same year, B.C. Yates became superintendent of Homestake Mining Company which meant he had less time to deal with Hat Creek Oil’s affairs. That year Homestake also announced the company viewed “wildcatting,” or drilling just in hopes of finding oil, as diverting too many men from the gold mining industry. On August 6, 1918, the decision was made to discontinue drilling at the Ardmore field, citing that the company's efforts to that date had not proven a success.