Bill Sites, age 10, of Visalia, California, for his question:

Who drilled the first oil well?

Numerous wells were dug for petroleum and petroleum products in ancient times. Archaeologists have found the ruins of wells dug centuries ago by Indians of North America. In many regions, wells drilled for salt often yielded petroleum by accident. Through the 1800s, Romanian oil wells were dug by hand. The product was refined and sold as fuel oil for lamps. In 1857, James 1 filler Williams dug a successful oil well in Ontario, Canada.

Apparently George Bissel of Connecticut was the first to think of petroleum as a more useful fuel and as a lubricant to oil machinery. Around 1850, he organized a company to dig for oil on a farm at Titusville, Pennsylvania. The project failed. Later it was tried again and Edwin L. Drake was hired to do the job. He decided to try the same method used to drill for salt. The work crew included Uncle Billy Smith, the blacksmith, and his two sons. Drilling began in June, 1859. After floodings and cave ins, they struck oil on August 27, at a depth of 69 1/2 feet. You might say that Edwin Drake drilled the first modern type oil well.