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An Inside Look Back at the Black Gold of Mentryville
June, 2005 - Issue #8
Almost 130 years ago, the first commercially successful oil well in the Western United States began pumping in Pico Canyon west of the current Lyons Avenue/Interstate 5 intersection. In current U.S. dollars, the price per barrel was at $2.56 when the Pico #4 well began pumping, but dropped to a low of $.56 in 1892, during the height of oil production in Santa Clarita. Now, the cost of oil hovers around $50 a barrel.

Mentryville, California was founded by Charles Mentry, a French immigrant who had come west from the oil fields of Pennsylvania in search of his own fortune. Drilling several wells around Pico Canyon, a location which still has oil seeping from the ground, Charles Mentry got lucky on attempt number four. After deepening his search for black gold, Mentry struck a gusher, shooting out enough oil for 50 barrels. Migrant oil laborers rushed from every direction, and by 1885, the town was large enough for its own school, surpassing 100 families. Years later, in 1898, the residents of Mentryville pitched in for the construction of a 13-room mansion for Mentry and his family.

As happens with all production fields, Mentryville dried up, leaving only the foreman in the midst of the Great Depression. Oil continued to flow though, even if not more than a trickle until the well was capped in 1990, making it the world's longest producing well.

Even before Charles Mentry came to California, the oil from Pico Canyon was being used. The Tataviam Indians, the original inhabitants of the Santa Clarita Valley, stretched skins for clothing using weighted oil balls. Later, General Andres Pico, a Mexican commander in the Mexican-American war, found "asphaltum" in the nearby canyons. He used this black mixture to tar his buildings and used the oil for lubrication and sealing.

Coming south, fresh from the battles of the Mexican-American War, U.S. General Beale's men cut a trench 90-feet deep through Freemont Pass, vastly improving transportation north from the Los Angeles Basin. While in the area, Beale read the published findings of Dr. Vincent Gelcich, who had founded the Santa Clara Oil Company in Pico Canyon. Encouraging others to join in their endeavor, Beale and Gelcich joined Pico in the formation of the Los Angeles Asphaltum and Petroleum Mining District. The organization sorted through the confusing and contradictory claims laid to the area and pursued their own fortunes in mining for oil.

Many others had claims in Pico and the surrounding canyons, including Darius Towsley, Dr. Rice, Christopher Leaming , Henry Clay Wiley, Col. R.F. Baker, Stanford Lyon, William W. Jenkins, and Jose Francisco de Gracia Lopez, whom discovered gold beneath an oak tree in Placerita Canyon in 1842, long before the California Gold Rush began. These first drillers dug down 50 feet, using a tree trunk as a bit. The primitive well pumped nine 31.5 gallon barrels a day. This was a very insignificant amount but it did lead to great consequences. As a result of this production, the Star Oil Refinery was built off San Fernando Road. Less than a year later the refinery failed and all of the original oil hunters moved on.

Demetrius Scofield, a Pennsylvania oil worker, knew of the potential in Pico Canyon and arrived in late 1875. Immediately leaving for San Francisco, Demetrius started the California Star Oil Works Company on July 8, 1876. He purchased all claims to the entire area in preparation for a massive oil field. One of the claims was purchased from Charles Mentry, who was living in Placerita Canyon at the time. Scofield hired Mentry to continue working the claims in the area, expanding upon the wells that were already in place. At a depth of 617 feet on September 22, 1876, a black geyser shot from the derrick. Mentry and Scofield had found their gusher.

Only three weeks earlier, another historical event in Santa Clarita had occurred. With the completion of Lang Station, Los Angeles was connected to San Francisco by way of the Southern Pacific Railroad. This seemed like the perfect way to transport the oil from Pico Canyon to markets across the state, but before long the railroad prices rose to levels above the revenue that Mentry and Scofield were earning on the oil sales. In an effort to avoid these exorbitant costs, Mentry laid the first oil pipeline in the state from Pico Canyon to Ventura. Southern Pacific reduced their rates and the line was never used.

The complementary oil refinery was built on Pine Street in Newhall, fed from the oil fields of Pico Canyon through a gravity-fed pipeline. Remnants of the Pioneer Oil Refinery, constructed in 1879, remain today.

In a rather ironic twist of events, an April 4, 1893 earthquake rocked the town of Mentryville. The townspeople were quite certain that the oil mining had caused the violent shaking of the earth and Mentry became the scapegoat for the natural disaster.

The town of Mentryville boomed with the discovery of oil. Oil workers moved their families from the East, creating a population surge in the early 1880s. In 1885, the Felton School was constructed in Mentryville. Students wishing to continue their studies beyond eighth grade were forced to make the trek to San Fernando High School. This continued until 1946 when Hart High School was completed in Newhall.

Life was pleasant in the town of Mentryville; there were dances every Saturday night and gas-light streets and facilities were among the first in the region. The company built a park for picnics and special events. The children played in Pico Creek. The entire town centered around the success of the wells, however. As they began to slow, in tandem with the death of Charles Mentry in 1900, the town emptied. A foreman remained on the site until 1990 when the wells were capped. Scofield, later named president of Standard Oil, made out well when Rockefeller's company purchased all oil rights in California.

At its height, Mentryville saw the production of well over 90,000 barrels a year.

In 1995, Chevron USA, which had earlier bought out Standard Oil of California, donated the land to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy as part of 3,035 acres of parkland. Now Mentryville is maintained by the Friends of Mentryville, whom have rebuilt and restored many of the town's original structures.

Mentryville is located inside a state park and is open daily (grounds only) from approximately 9 a.m. to sundown. Trained volunteers are available on the first and third Sundays of the month from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. to lead interpretive tours of the historical grounds and buildings. There is no fee; donations are welcomed. Visit www.mentryville.org for more information or driving directions.

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Much of the research for this article was received from the Friends of Mentryville, "The Story of Mentryville" by Leon Worden, and the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society.
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