Bloomington (Monroe County, Indiana) Herald Telephone, February 17, 1951, p. 1. NOTE: The item below was abbreviated from the original as noted by the ellipsis. 1ST BIG OIL WELL HIT IN COUNT "Gusher" Producing 350 to 500 Barrels a Day Brought in on Ben Deckard Farm First big oil well discovery in the history of Monroe County was revealed today with announcement that a "gusher" had been struck on the late Ben Deckard farm in the Dutch Ridge neighborhood. This is in Monroe County, six miles north of Heltonville, and just 990 feet north of the Monroe-Lawrence County line. John Easter, head of a company holding mineral rights on the land where the oil was struck, said the new well is one of heavy production. Oil from the new well, it was emphasized, is of extremely high quality. Preliminary tests, it was announced, have shown the oil to be of such high quality that it could be used in an automobile without refining. Site of the oil well discovered is in a section where repeated efforts have been made to strike oil for years. The Jordan, Bond and Lamb Company of Oaktown, Indiana, is contracting driller which struck the oil in southeast Monroe County this week. Over the years the history of oil prospecting in Monroe County had been made up mostly of one "dry hole" after another. In 1929, oil was struck not far from the present new well site, but it was found in small quantity that commercial operation was not practical and the well was capped.