# Wildcatter

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{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{short description|Term for petroleum industry occupation}}{{This article is about|oil exploration|the 1937 American film|The Wildcatter}}{{other uses|Wildcat (disambiguation)}}
A '''wildcatter''' is an individual who [drill](/source/drilling_rig)s [wildcat wells](/source/Oil_wells), which are exploration [oil well](/source/oil_well)s drilled in areas not known to be [oil field](/source/oil_field)s.<ref>{{cite web|title=Wildcatter Definition|url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/wildcatter?s=t|website=Dictionary.com}}</ref> Notable wildcatters include [J. Steve Anderson](/source/J._Steve_Anderson), [Glenn McCarthy](/source/Glenn_McCarthy), [Thomas Baker Slick Sr.](/source/Thomas_Baker_Slick_Sr.), [Mike Benedum](/source/Michael_Late_Benedum), [Joe Trees](/source/Joe_Trees), [Clem S. Clarke](/source/Clem_S._Clarke), and [Columbus Marion Joiner](/source/Columbus_Marion_Joiner); Joiner is responsible for finding the [East Texas Oil Field](/source/East_Texas_Oil_Field) in 1930.

The term was used in the early oil industry in western [Pennsylvania](/source/Pennsylvania). Oil wells in unproven territory were called "wild cat" wells from mid-1870, and those who drilled them were called "wild-catters" by 1876.<ref>"Monthly Petroleum Report", ''Titusville Morning Herald'', July 12, 1870, p.3 c.3.</ref><ref>Tionesta (PA) ''The Forest Republican'', October 11, 1876, p.3 c.2.</ref> For instance, the [Titusville](/source/Titusville%2C_Pennsylvania) ''Herald'' noted in 1880: "The discovery of the fluid in [New York State](/source/New_York_State) was the signal for a general exodus of wildcatters from all parts of the oil country ..."<ref>"From Parker City," ''Titusville (Penn.) Herald'', March 1, 1880, p. 3.</ref>

==Etymology==
According to tradition, the origin of the term in the petroleum industry comes from Wildcat Hollow, now in [Oil Creek State Park](/source/Oil_Creek_State_Park) near [Titusville](/source/Titusville%2C_Pennsylvania), [Pennsylvania](/source/Pennsylvania).  Wildcat Hollow was one of the many productive fields in the early oil era. An old story claims that a speculator who was drilling in this narrow valley shot a wildcat, had it stuffed, and set it atop his derrick, and that the mounted cat gave its name to the hollow.  The same story claims that because the area was largely untested and somewhat away from Oil Creek Flats, the term "wildcatter" was coined to refer to a person who risked drilling for oil in any unproven area.

''Wildcat'' was American slang for any risky business venture by 1838, long before the rise of the petroleum industry.<ref>Christine Ammer.''It's Raining Cats and Dogs ... and Other Beastly Expressions'' (New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell, 1989) 152.</ref> An example was the [wildcat banking](/source/wildcat_banking) of the 1850s. Directors of wildcat banks in the Midwest were known as "wild-catters" before [Edwin Drake](/source/Edwin_Drake)'s discovery of oil in Pennsylvania.<ref>"Wild-cats in Iowa," Chicago ''Tribune'', December 28, 1857, p.2 c.5.</ref>

==See also==
*[Hydrocarbon exploration](/source/Hydrocarbon_exploration)
*[William M. Keck](/source/William_M._Keck)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[httpd://www.raken.com/american_wealth/Wildcatter_Oil_Barons/oil_barons_index.asp Wildcatters and oil barons of America]

Category:Petroleum production
Category:History of the petroleum industry in the United States
Category:Oil exploration
Category:Resource extraction occupations

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