14

Lick Well
1863
Lick Ravine, Lot 20, River Range in Zone Township, Ontario, Canada

15

Although John Lick was not the first to discover oil, he certainly was the most persistent. Lick was not the only American to come to Canada in search of black gold after the Oil Springs discovery, but he was one of the only people who stayed after the outbreak of the American civil war. Lick drilled several wells but they were failures. Fortunately, he did not give up and he did strike oil at the depth of two hundred and twenty-four feet, forty-six of which were in rock. The well took four days to cap and for a time produced two hundred barrels of oil a day.

16

Barrels and Chain Binders
1900
Zone Concession 7, Bothwell, Ontario, Canada

17

Oil was in demand at the time because of the American civil war and the price of a barrel soared from one dollar to ten or even twelve dollars. The Lick well yielded more than thirty thousand barrels of oil before it was blown up by a careless engineer.

18

Pepper Well
1860
Bothwell, Ontario, Canada

19

The conclusion of the boom came at the end of 1866. The American civil war was ending and new wells were being produced in Petrolia, so the need for oil was not so great. Also the Fenian raids and the threat of a war between the US and Canada created panic and caused the American investors and drillers to abandon their wells and go home. The price of oil dropped from twelve dollars to two. The boom had, however, produced many famous wells including another well that Lick drilled, the Pepper well, Empire, Thayer, Wilcox, Colwell, and Dr. Pope wells.

20

Downtown Fire in Bothwell in 1980
1980
Bothwell, Ontario, Canada

21

Four devastating fires swept through Bothwell from the 1860's to the turn of the century. The first was in 1867, the same year that Bothwell was declared a town, which destroyed George and Main streets including the splendid Gatling Hall (which was built by the brother of the man who invented the Gatling gun) and many other fine hotels and businesses. The next two fires both occurred in 1898, the first in February and the next in July. The final fire of that time period occurred in 1893 when a frame house on Elm Street caught fire.

22

Bothwell Commercial District Fire
1980
Bothwell, Ontario, Canada

23

In August of 1980 fire struck Bothwell once again, destroying the Central Hotel, the last remains of the oil booms that had made Bothwell famous.

24

Main Street of Bothwell, 1908
1908
Bothwell, Ontario, Canada

25

A second oil boom hit Bothwell in 1893 when oil was struck on the McRitchie farm at three hundred and sixty-five feet. In 1896, Frank J. Carman, along with J. H. Fairbanks, struck a two hundred barrel producer about two and a half miles west of Bothwell. The oil boom cooled down after 1903, but wells were still pumping.

26

Walking Beam, Jerker Line, and Equipment Wagon
1900
Oil Springs, Ontario, Canada

27

Bothwell is a town that was founded on black gold, and although that is not the livelihood of Bothwell nowadays, the story of the oil booms and of those who came in search of fortunes has earned a place in Canada's rich history.