Brief History of Oil Development in Towsley Canyon

This topo map shows all the known well sites in Towsley Canyon. The first well in the upper right is Lassale 1. The next well to the left (west) is Lassale 2. The star is the (now defunct) nature center. The red dot is the location of Chevron-Towsley 1, the last well drilled in the canyon (1992). The next well is the Patric-Pet-Towsley Canyon 1. Then you reach the narrows. Past the narrows are the Towsley and Temple claim wells. This is where the majority of the wells were located. Far out on the left is the St. Bernard Oil Company Well No. 1.

Here is another look at the wells. The Towsley claim wells are in the rectangle labled as Lot 40. The wells on the left would be on the Temple claim.

There were two main (successful) claims in Towsley Canyon. They were the Towsley and Temple Claims. I will start with the history of the Towsley until the 1880's and then jump to the Temple.

The following early oil history of Towsley (and Wiley) Canyon is also summarized in a chart here. Sources are in the chart.

On March 18, 1865, Darius Towsley (also spelled Tousley) made two claims as the discoverer of what he called the Towsley Lead in what would be (and still is) called Towsley Canyon. Henry C. Wiley and Myron E. Everts also took up one claim each there. At that time, the discoverer was allowed to make two 1000 square foot claims. Any other locator could only make one 1000 square foot claim.

At the same time, Towsley and Everts also took out preemption claims (Los Angeles County Recorder, Preemption Claims, Book 1, Page 247&248) on the land. A preemption claim was for agriculture and grazing use only. It was not a mining claim.

On March 27, 1865, Myron E. Everts quit-claimed all his rights to the Towsley Lead to Henry Wiley for $100.

On March 7, 1866, Darius Towsley sold 1/2 interest of his claim on the Towsley (and Wiley) Lead to Sylphina Rushmore of San Francisco for $75. Wiley and Rushmore would agree that Wiley owned 3/4 and Rushmore owned 1/4 of each claim. Then on March 12, 1866, Towsley sold his remaining 1/2 interest on the Towsley (and Wiley) Lead to Henry C. Wiley in consideration of the satisfaction and settlement of all claims and accounts which Wiley claimed against him and also for one horse.

The following map was surveyed on April 28, 1865. It shows Touseley [sic] Gulch (Towsley Canyon), Wiley Gulch (Wiley Canyon), Arroyo Rincon (South Fork of the Santa Clara River), and East Branch of Arroyo Rincon (Gavin Canyon). This is a part of the Wiley Canyon sketch map from the Solano-Reeve collection, Maps, Huntington Digital Library. Full map can be seen here.

On June 18, 1866, Stephen F. Peckham visited Towsley and Wiley Canyons (Geology, Volume II, The Coast Ranges, Appendix F, Examination of the Bituminous Substances Occurring in Southern California, by S.F. Peckham, June, 1866, p. 68, Cambridge, Mass., John Wilson & Son, University Press, 1882). Peckham reported that the Wiley Springs Oil Company had been operating both the Wiley and the Towsley Canyon claims since August of 1865. He also reported that the two claims had produced 260 barrels of oil since August of 1865. The superintendant of all the work going on was Mr. Rushmore. Was Mr. Rushmore related to Sylphina Rushmore, the owner of 1/4 interest? That seems likely because the 1880 U.S. Census for San Francisco has an Albert, age 57, and Sylvania Rushmore, age 53. Albert was the brother of Sylvania and his occupation was a contractor. Sylphina could easily have been misspelled as Sylvania, that is an unusual name.

Sometime between 1866 and 1872, Sylphina Rushmore must have sold her 1/4 interest to Wiley (I haven't been able to locate the document) because on January 18, 1872, Wiley leased the Towsley (and Wiley) Oil Springs to Samuel B. Caswell, John F. Ellis, and W.P. Davis for one year with a monthly rental of fifty dollars. They were going to work both petroleum springs. On the third of October, 1872, Wiley filed suit over unpaid rent and refusal to vacate the premises. On October 19, Wiley won by default because the defendants failed to appear or answer the suit and on October 23, Los Angeles County Sheriff Rowland removed the three defendants from the property.

The men must have made up quickly, because the Los Angeles Herald of January 13, 1874, reported that the owners of the Tousely [sic] well were Wiley and Caswell. However, on December 12, 1878, Wiley sold Caswell 1/4 interest in the Towsley claim for ten dollars, so it's doubtful that Caswell was an owner in 1874. Also on December 12, 1878, for ten dollars, Wiley sold 1/4 interest to Mary L. Ellis. She was the widow of J.F. Ellis (who had died of typhoid fever in 1877). Then, on January 21, 1879, Mary Ellis sold all her interest on the Towsley claim to Caswell for one dollar. Also on January 21, 1879, Wiley sold all his interest on the Towsley claim to Caswell for one dollar. On January 22, 1879, Caswell sold 1/3 interest to Charles J. Ellis.

On August 20, 1879, S.B. Caswell, J.F. Ellis and H.C. Wiley were granted a patent by the U.S. General Land Office for the Towsley Petroleum Mine. The application must have been filed before Wiley sold out to Caswell. On February 10, 1881, Caleb and Abigal Ellis, the parents of J.F. Ellis, sold all of their son's interest (probably from the patent) in the Towsley claim to Charles J. Ellis for $50. Then on May 7, 1884, Caswell sold 1/3 interest of the Towsley Petroleum Claim back to Wiley for one dollar.

On January 25, 1886, Wiley sold his 1/3 interest to Charles J. Ellis for $4000. At this point, Charles J. Ellis appeared to own 2/3 and S.B. Casewell 1/3 of the Towsley claim. However, Ellis might have been the sole owner. I may have missed a transaction.

Below is a map is from 1876 and shows the Towsley Petroleum Mine, Lot No. 40, on the south side of the Narrows in Towsley Canyon. Lot 40 was patented in 1879. It also shows Wiley Canyon, Sanford Lyon's house in Lyon Canyon, Michael Brophy's house, and the mouth of East and Rice Canyon . From Map of Township 3 North, Range 16 West, SBM, Surveyor General's Office, San Franciso California, March 8th, 1876 (downloaded from General Land Office records website).

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The Temple Lead oil claim was filed on May 20, 1874, by F.P.F. Temple (banker and president of the Los Angeles Petroleum Refining Company), and seven other men for a total claim of 8000 feet. It was located west of, and adjacent to, The Towsley claim.

White (1962) reports that the first steam engine was used beginning in July of 1874 on the Temple claim. A 50-foot derrick and a portable steam rig were used to drill a 470-foot well by early 1875. The well superintendent was William H. Spangler, a Pennsylvanian oil veteran. The well produced little oil and was plagued by cave-ins. This use of a steam engine is before the first use of a steam engine in the Pico Canyon. The steam engine and equipment for the rig was purchased from Thomas R. Bard, future co-founder of Union Oil Company. Bard visited the well and reported to John P. Green (from Hutchinson 1965):

"The man in charge [Spangler] frankly admits that the difficulties to bore in this country compared with those in Pennsylvania are insuperable. But like all of us he is impressed with the idea that there's lots of oil somewhere below him. The well is properly located in my opinion and if they can get it down to any considerable depth ought to test the question pretty thoroughly. Salisbury [Albert J. Salisbury - a driller for Bard] was with me and we both are of the opinion that...their machinery, engine power and size of hole are all inadequate for sinking to a greater depth than 600 feet."

The Los Angeles Herald of 6/3/1874 reports that:

"The Oil Company shipped their engine and boring machinery to San Francisco yesterday. They will soon commence operations on the Temple claim near that place, drilling for the petroleum which is supposed to be there."

LA Herald of 6/28/1874:

"There can be no doubt but that the supply of crude petroleum is almost inexhaustible. One boring company with steam power and tools and all the modern improvements, under the supervision of an experienced well-borer from Pennsylvania (Mr. Spangler), is now sinking a well."

LA Herald of 8/2/1874:

"The well on the Temple claim is down between 70 and 80 feet. The machinery is in perfect order and works like a thing of life. The workmen are drilling from seven to ten feet per day. At present they are in shale formation with considerable oil and gas coming in. The oil has changed to a green color in the last ten feet, which is very favorable for a good quality. Mr. Spangler, who is boring this well, has had considerable experience in Pennsylvania, and he says that the indications are favorable for a flowing well in less than 200 feet, but he intends to sink it 800, if the flow of oil does not prevent."

LA Herald of 8/6/1874:

"The San Fernando OIl-well Boring Company had a meeting yesterday in this city. The Secretary's report showed an expenditure, up to the present time, of seventeen hundred dollars. Mr. Spangler, the Superintendent of the well, was present and reported that the well was ninety-four feet deep, with considerable oil running into it; that they drilled seven to nine feet per day; and that everything was in perfect order, and working like a charm. When we consider the work that has been done, and the material on hand, we must commend this Company for economy. Fifteen hundred dollars, the amount paid for an engine and set of tools is said to be very cheap. This does not include the derrick, freight, and labor of putting the machines up. Success to the Well-boring Company; may they strike it big!"

LA Herald of 10/21/1874:

"This well is now 160 feet, and the oil rises to within four feet of the surface. They are still boring, however, expecting to strike a stronger vein within a short distance."

LA Herald of 3/28/1875:

"The boring apparatus of the Temple well comprises a derrick of about fifty feet high, a little portable engine, covered by a shed, and a small shanty to the operatives. Everything about the place has a sort of mourning aspect, the drills, tackles, machinery and structures being bespattered and coated with the black, oily petroleum. As it was Sunday, the men were not at work, and we found only the cook of the party at home."

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Article from the Los Angeles Herald of 1/12/1889 reporting an 1878 application for a patent on the Wiley and Towsley claims by Wiley, Caswell, and Mary Ellis (J.F. Ellis' widow). The Towsley claim was originally by Darius Tousley and M.E. Evarts. Myron E. Evarts was born in New York around 1819 and came to Los Angeles in 1858. He was made a member of the Pioneers of Los Angeles County in 1898. I don't know why an 1878 patent application was in an 1889 newspaper.

Plat map with the Towsley claim enclosed in yellow and the Temple claim in green.

Topo map with the Towsley claim in the yellow rectangle just below "the Narrows."

Map of the Towsley and Temple claims and wells in 1934 (from Walling)

Landowner map probably from the early 1940's. Standard Oil's land is enclosed in yellow. They owned no land in Towsley Canyon south of "the Narrows" where the original Towsley and Temple claims were. Standard owned all of Wiley Canyon.

The first really significant well was drilled in 1929 by the Consolidated Oil Company. The "Hammon" 1 well reached a depth of 3270 feet. Between 1937 and 1939, Towsley Canyon Oil Company and J.H. O'Donnell deepened it to 5225 feet. For almost the whole depth of the well the dips (or slopes) were greater than 70 degrees showing how steep the anticline is. The well produced a significant amount of oil.

In 1941, the Barnsdall Oil Co., Bandini Petroleum Co., and the Ambassador Petroleum Co. joined to search for a deep field in Towsley Canyon. The Limbocker No. 1 well ran into drilling problems because of the steep dips of the Pico anticline. After reaching 7056 feet and finding little oil, the well was abandoned in 1942. This well was on a homestead claim of Alice Limbocker. (See below for photos of well.)

In 1950, the Santa Paula Drilling and Development Company drilled well "Foster" 1 to a depth of about 3515 feet. It was producing 12 bpd in 1966.

By 1966, about 30 wells had been drilled in Towsley Canyon. 18 produced oil at one time or another, and 9 were still producing.

The last two leases in Towsley Canyon were the Hammon lease (on the Temple claim) and the Security Bank lease. See Bailey's geologic map on the Geology page for their locations.

In 1985 Celeron Oil & Gas Company drilled an exploratory well to 15,816 feet. They wanted to evaluate the deeper zones of the anticline. Inconclusive results were obtained and the well was abandoned in 1987. In 1992, the last attempt at finding oil in Towsley Canyon was started. A petroleum consortium of small, mainly Canadian, energy companies (Riva Petoleum 30%, Ossa Resources 30%, Loumic Resources 20%, Tusk Resources 7%, Layfield Resources 5%, and Samedan Oil Corporation 8%), set up a massive 170 foot tall electrically powered rig northeast of the Narrows next to the road and began exploratory drilling by using the original Celeron well. At about 11,000 feet, they planned to use a slant drilling technique to sidetrack about 6000 feet south of the actual drilling rig. They planned to eventually drill about 16,500 feet underground. The rig was assembled by two 100-ton cranes from 70 tractor-trailer loads of parts.

The consortium hoped to find an oil reserve they believed could contain up to 625 million barrels of oil worth $12 billion at the 1992 price of $20 per barrel. The land was owned by Chevron, but they gave the consortium the mineral rights, with Chevron getting a percentage of the profits. Chevron believed that the search was highly speculative and declined to invest or participate in any way.

By August of 1992, they reportedly reached 16,000 feet and had found natural gas. An official of Ossa stated that they knew something was down there, but no one will actually know if the gas can be commercially produced until the area is tested. The president of Riva said that they could have a major gas field. After the possible gas discovery was made, stock prices of all the smaller companies involved doubled.

By January of 1993 the rig was gone. They had reached a maximum depth of 16,114 feet. They found oil but it was mixed with too much water to be of any value. The consortium spent nearly all of their capital of $7 million. Riva Petroleum said it will try to persuade the others to drill again. Samedan believes there is something down there, but a new well will have to be drilled. They now believe that the well will not result in the billions of dollars that was first speculated. The others said no to drilling.

In April of 1994, the Divisin of Oil and Gas received a letter from the United States Securites and Exchange Commission requesting copies of the original Celeron proposal and permit to drill the well and the Samedan proposal and permit to drill the well. The SEC stated that they are conducting a formal investigation into whether common stock of Riva Petroleum had been offered or sold in violation of federal securities laws. I have not found any results of this investigation were, so I have to conclude that probably nothing could be proved.

In 1995, Chevron sold the last of its holdings in Towsley Canyon (and other canyons) to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. It would become the heart of the Santa Clarita Woodlands Park.

In 1996, the last eight wells were plugged and abandoned by the DOG.

The best year for Towsley Canyon was 1955 when production was 3,349 barrels of oil (California Oil and Gas Fields, Volume II, Southern, Central Coastal, and Offshore California, Division of Oil and Gas, Publication No. TR12, Sacramento, 1991).

Table of the wells drilled in Towsley Canyon