Oil Well Ojai No. 6

Oil Well Ojai No. 6. Prelude to California's Oil Empire. Near here in May 1867, the California Petroleum Company brought in "Ojai No. 6" at a depth of 550 feet. W.W. Orcutt described it as "The first well drilled for oil in California that yielded extended commercial production." It was the first producing well drilled by mechanical power and the first to flow by its own energy. It is regarded as the forerunner of the state's oil bonanza., The well was located by Thomas R. Bard of the California Petroleum Company. Mr. Bard, age 26, came to California from Pennsylvania in 1865 representing T.A. Scott of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the California Petroleum Company. Mr. Bard conceived of drilling away from existing oil springs on a projected oil structure. With indomitable energy he was the principal figure in the first major effort to develop the petroleum resources of the state., When the California Petroleum Company suspended operations, No. 6 played a part in the formative years of the Union Oil Company, of which Mr. Bard was the first President. Mr. Bard became a United Stated Senator and holds a prominent place in California history., This monument is dedicated to Ojai No. 6, Senator Bard, to the pioneers of the Union Oil Company and the petroleum industry.