Bossier Parish Enters American Oil Boom

Lucas Gusher, Spindletop Hill, Texas, 1901 

Did you know that Louisiana is among the top ten producers of crude oil in the United States? The beginning of the American oil industry came when on Jan. 10, 1901, a drilling derrick at Spindletop Hill near Beaumont, Texas, produced an enormous gusher of crude oil, coating the landscape for hundreds of feet. News of the Lucas Gusher was heard around the world and ignited "oil fever." Oil prospecting became a big business. People were anxious to make similar discoveries and investors began shelling out tons of money searching for oil.

In 1909, the first oil well that struck oil in this parish was located at Oakland Plantation. Though it was deemed a success because the goal was to find oil and that they did, they felt the vein they struck was too small and decided against extracting it. The oil well was relocated and led to the discovery of natural gas in that section, a common occurrence when prospecting for oil. Nonetheless, the news of striking oil was received with joy throughout the parish and fueled the desire to find more oil here.

R.O. Roy, 1938
Owner of R.O. Roy & Company

Prospectors drilled many discovery wells all over the Parish in hopes of finding "black gold." The first big producer was a shallow pool located at Bellevue that was discovered by R. O. Roy and his associates on Nov. 14, 1921. They put down about a half dozen deep wells and nine shallow wells in their search for the hidden pool of oil. According to the newspaper report, "It was one of the shallow wells that 'brought in the bacon.'"

Bellevue Field oil wells, Bossier Parish, early 1900s
Written on the photo: Nacatoch sand well at 305 feet,
Flowing 1200 barrels a day. 

It was described as a 'wonder' well, because it was the shallowest producing oil well in the Southwest. They reached the pool of oil at a depth of only 397-feet and 10-inches. Before that, the shallowest well was 625 feet deep near Houston, TX. With only a two-inch pipe for the oil to flow through, the well produced at least 60 barrels per hour, approximately 1,500 barrels per day. Had they used the standard four-inch pipe, the daily output would have been upwards of 6,000 barrels.

According to an article by W.S. Ingram published in The Shreveport Times in 1926, "it was the Bellevue shallow field that wrote a new chapter into oil history of the United States." He also stated that "Other wells quickly followed, what was believed the world's shallowest hole flowing 400 barrels from 289 feet, and one of the largest, flowing 3,500 barrels from 336 feet. The total production of this shallow field for the first six months being pipeline runs of 103,700 barrels. The production of this marvelous field for the year ending October 1, 1925, totaled (official figures) 1,327,068 barrels. For the same period there were 32 completions, three being gassers, and 12 producers with initial production of 3,623 barrels.

"This wonder field became the talk of the country and because of the unheard of depth at which the initial production of 1,500 barrels through a two-inch pipe, was obtained, most people were inclined to discount reports of the production. But a visit to the jungle where the holes were located soon convinced the most skeptical. The hole was drilled with a light rotary rig, the table being not more than 30 inches in diameter and the derrick only 38 feet high 'watch charm rigs' as they were termed by a Texas operator. But this field has produced millions of dollars of oil, has caused to be constructed physical property worth millions more and brought Bossier parish and north Louisiana into the limelight of the oil and gas world."

By: Amy Robertson

The Hauntings of Oakland Plantation

Oakland Plantation; Emma Pattillo Collection: 0000.011.018

Before the invention and everyday use of the television, people would gather around the radio for news and entertainment. Well, in 1938, KTBS-AM aired a series called “Can They Return?” every Tuesday at 8 pm. On March 1, 1938, the hauntings of the antebellum house of Oakland Plantation on Sligo Road was the subject of the show.

At the time of the broadcast, Grace Pettet; her mother, Mrs. H.B. Harris; her daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Hughes, and their two children were the occupants of the home. Two days after the broadcast, an article written by Freddie Kolstad ran in The Times, providing a written account of the transmission from Oakland Plantation. The following are excerpts from the article:

“Attempting to answer the oft-pondered question, “Can they return?” several members of the KTBS staff visited the 100-year-old house Tuesday night and used it as the scene of their broadcast. The short wave transmitter set was installed in the wide hall of Oakland, and members of the station’s staff, accompanied by the occupants at the house, made a thorough tour of the structure, from front porch to cellar.

"Their trip up and down the narrow flights of stairs and through each room was broadcast over the transmitter and was tied in with a station broadcast from the studio in Shreveport. At the studio the story of old Colonel Sutton, who had built his own coffin at Oakland and had slept in it nightly for years before he died, was told. Emphasis was placed on the eerie footsteps heard at night that many believe to be the colonel’s tread as he haunts his former home trying to find some one to whom he may reveal the spot where he buried gold which he hid from the Yankees shortly before the Civil war.”

Legends of supernatural activity at the more than 180-year-old antebellum home have been spread over the past century. As legends go, the details are subject to change over the years, but for the most part, they share the same general points. The story told the night of the broadcast is perhaps, the most common legend told; however, this is the first version of the story I have heard that identifies the ghost as being Colonel Sutton.

Many believe that the hauntings of Oakland Plantation are the ghost of Dr. Skannal, who called Oakland Plantation home from 1844 until his death in 1876. It has been told that Dr. Skannal purchased his coffin years before his death and placed it in the attic, where he reportedly took naps in it. Dr. Skannal, many believed, was a fun-loving jokester when alive, and after his death, he continued playing practical jokes by haunting his old home.

Other stories are that Dr. Skannal murdered his wife and kept her body in the coffin, and the body was discovered only after his death. And some think that these hauntings are the specters of the young Skannal children that died at Oakland. Phenomena reported over the years include people waking up to find their covers stripped off the bed and in the corner of the room. The thermostat is adjusted to freezing temperatures. And of glass milk jugs falling over, and the rocking chair rocking with no explanation.

There are tales of headless horsemen and horses trotting through the vast hallway. There are sounds of footsteps in the attic, and chains scraping the floor. The radio knobs have been seen moving on their own, and items have been seen falling off flat surfaces. Objects will vanish moments after setting it down only to reappear later.

Other eerie happenings reported over the years are sightings of a woman in white. One account tells of a cold draft of air that moved through the library and resulted in the fireplace lighting by itself. And the sensation that someone or something is breathing on your neck. While more recent accounts involve finding all the kitchen cabinet doors opened, and a photograph was taken, which captured the image of a ghost baby.

To see a model of Oakland Plantation and learn more about its history, including oral histories that share personal accounts of some of these hauntings, visit the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center at 2206 Beckett Street, Bossier City.

By: Amy Robertson