First of three parts.

By Ed Shannon, Tribune feature writer

One of the real mysteries in the Kiester and Bricelyn area is based on the presence of elusive pockets of natural gas under the surface of the farm fields.

Through the years, several wells drilled by Faribault County farmers for water have penetrated these pockets of gas. This has resulted in spectacular &uot;blow outs.&uot; And on several occasions, a lighted match or torch thrown at the escaping gas would result in a spectacular blaze. Then, a few days later, as the pressure of the gas decreased to nearly nothing, the flame would flicker out or be extinguished.

Proof of this scenario and the existence of gas near Kiester and Bricelyn was featured in the Jan. 22, 1931, issue of the Tribune. This article was a reprint from the Lake Mills, Iowa, Graphic which reported in part:

&uot;It has long been known that there is natural gas in Faribault County. Whether or not it exists in paying quantities has never been fully tested. As fuel gets scarcer and prices consequently higher, and convenience is more and more considered, attention has turned to natural gas and crude oil for fuel. A gas main extending from the gas fields of Texas to Mason City, supplying towns and cities on the way, has shown the possibility of long distance piping, while the condensing of the gas into a liquid and shipping it in tanks for home consumption bids fair to supplant manufactured gas for such purposes as cooking.

&uot;Seven years ago (1924) Ole M. Hanson of Bricelyn drilled a well for Mr.

(John) Ramp (who lived 14 miles west of Bricelyn). At a depth of 142 feet he struck a flow of gas which threw gravel, shale and water a distance of 500 feet in the air. This lasted for a day and a half, when the pipe became plugged with 58 feet of gravel. An engineer estimated the pressure at 900 pounds. The owner said: ‘I no want gas; I want water.’ So Ole drilled out the 58 feet and thence into rock for two feet, where the desired flow of water was secured. It was, however, of a pronounced gassy taste.

&uot;The history of gas in the Bricelyn vicinity dates back far beyond this incident. Herman Lorenz, six miles northeast of Bricelyn, had a well drilled 35 years ago (1896). When down 180 feet, gas poured out of the two-inch pipe with such force that the pipe vas blown out of the well and a considerable distance into the air. Someone lit a match and the flame shot up 75 feet. It was controlled after several days and the well finished. Even then, enough gas escaped through the points in the pipe so that it was conveyed to the kitchen and used for cooking for a year. Thirteen years ago (1918)

the old well was abandoned, but gas has been escaping ever since.

&uot;Mr. Hanson has drilled several wells on Kiester Hills, usually finding gas.&uot;

The part of the Faribault County landscape known as the Kiester Hills is located between Kiester and Walters. A topographical map show an elevated area which can be described as gently rolling prairie hills lying about two miles north of Kiester and extending eastward into Freeborn County toward Mansfield.

The Kiester Hills are a legacy of the change from a somewhat tropical climate to a glacial era thousands of years ago. Another legacy of this climatic change is the presence of what’s sometimes called swamp gas. This gas was created and trapped below the surface in small pockets. And all it takes is a well being drilled for water to penetrate the pocket to release the pressure of the gas. It’s somewhat like a pin piercing a balloon filled with water or air.

One of the earliest accidental discoveries of gas north of Kiester came in 1894 when a well being drilled on the John Lorenz farm resulted in gas shooting seven feet into the air. A lighted match proved this was really gas and not water.

In 1917 a well being drilled on the J.W. Yost farm north of Kiester hit a gas

pocket at the 97-foot depth. This gas shot out of the top of the well head to a height of three feet. This well burned brightly and created a loud roaring sound for a few days.

In other parts of the nation natural gas and petroleum, or oil, were almost synonymous. What actually created a gusher was oil being pushed to the surface by gas pressure. Without the gas, oil had to be pumped out of the ground through the wells.

Thus, some people in the Bricelyn and Kiester area got to thinking that where there’s gas, then oil is likely to be deeper in the ground. And in the 1930s oil was a more desirable and valuable than gas.

In 1931 a group of men in Bricelyn organized the Community Gas and Oil Co. They soon included investors from Kiester and leased several thousand acres of land in the Kiester Hills.

By 1932 the Community firm had changed its name to Gopher State Oil and Gas Co. Arrangements were being made for geological surveys. Also, by early 1933, a total of 15,000 acres of land had been leased to the Gopher firm.

Despite continuing financial problems the promoters of Bricelyn and Kiester decided to seriously start exploring for oil in the Kiester Hills in 1933.

Next: More information about the three attempts to find oil in the southeast corner of Faribault County.

(Contact Ed Shannon at ed.shannon@albertleatribune.com or call 379-3434.)