Click on an image to see a larger version.
At this site in 1901, crude oil shot hundreds of feet in the air and flowed for weeks before it could be capped.
site of Lakeview gusher, north of Maricopa, CA (1984).
The Union Oil Company (Unocal) was founded in this small oil field north of Los Angeles, but soon grew into a major national producer.
Santa Paula, CA (1974).
The Westside oil fields in the southern San Joaquin Valley once bristled with wooden oil derricks and pumps like these.
Buena Vista Hills, north of Taft, CA (1984).