Oil Discovery

Here is a brief outline sketch of the oil history in the 19th century.

1846 Kerosene as fuel was introduced by Canadian Abraham Gesner
1853 a Russian sea captain noted the oil along the shoreline of Cook Inlet, Alaska.
1854 the North American Gas Light Company was formed.
1859 NW Pennsylvania an important well is drilled for the soul purpose of finding oil.
1862 first commercial oil well in Canon City, Colorado.
1865 first oil pipeline was constructed.
1865 California's first productive well was drilled.
1866 First well in Texas drilled by Lyne T. Barret. wasn't exploited until 1888 when a crew of drillers from the PA came to lend a hand.
1872 Robert Augustus patents Vaseline from the unwanted goop of the PA wells.
1892 First well strike in Southern California was drilled by Edward L. Doheny indowntown LA
1896 some marginally successful wells were drilled in Corsicana, Texas.
1897 500 wells in LA, California
1897 oil discovered in Oklahoma
1898 Oil drilling begins in Alaska