UTAH'S BLACK GOLD: The Petroleum Industry BY OSMOND L. HARLINE
This article (1) reviews briefly the development of Utah's crude-oil-producing industry, (2) summarizes the highlights of the establishment of Utah's petroleum-refining complex (which had its beginning even before commercial quantities of oil were found widiin the state) and (3) examines the significant events associated with the petroleum-related natural-gas-producing industry of Utah. The growth of these three aspects of the petroleum industry, all of which have contributed significantly to the economic advancement of the state, are an important chapter in Utah's mineral history. CRUDE OIL ..PRODUCTION
Petroleum in Utah first came to the attention of the white man in the form of an oil seep. On July 11, 1847, William Clayton chronicled the historic event in this manner: D u r i n g the day some of the brethren [members of Brigham Young's first company of Mormon pioneers] discovered an oil spring. T h e substance which rises out of the ground resembles tar and is very oily. Some have oiled their shoes, others have gone to fill their tar baskets and are sanguine it will answer well to grease wagons . . . -1
The location of the discovery was about 82.5 miles east of Salt Lake City near the present Utah-Wyoming border on the old Pioneer Trail. Dr. Harline is director of the Bureau of Economic and Business Research, University of Utah. Appreciation is expressed to the many individuals and companies in the industry whose significant contribution of information made this article possible. The research assistance of D. T. Verma, Charles J. Eidler, and Katherine L. Lueck, research analysts on die staff of die University Bureau, is also gratefully acknowledged. 1 William Clayton, William Clayton's Journal: A Daily Record of the Journey of the Original Company of "Mormon" Pioneers from Nanvoo, Illinois, to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake (Salt Lake City, 1921), 289.
