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| CHAPTER I. THE STAR IN THE EAST | 1-14 |
| Petroleum in Ancient Times—Known from an Early Period in the World’s History—Mentioned in the Scriptures and by Primitive Writers—Solomon Sustained—Stumbling Upon the Greasy Staple in Various Lands—Incidents and Anecdotes of Different Sorts and Sizes—Over Asia, Africa and Europe. | |
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| CHAPTER II. A GLIMMER IN THE WEST | 15-24 |
| Numerous Indications of Oil on this Continent—Lake of Asphaltum—Petroleum Springs in New York and Pennsylvania—How History is Manufactured—Pioneers Dipping and Utilizing the Precious Fluid—Tombstone Literature—Pathetic Episode-Singular Strike—Geology Tries to Explain a Knotty Point. | |
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| CHAPTER III. NEARING THE DAWN | 27-40 |
| Salt-Water Helping Solve the Problem—Kier’s Important Experiments—Remarkable Shaft at Tarentum—West Virginia and Ohio to the Front—The Lantern Fiend—What an Old Map Showed—Kentucky Plays Trumps—The Father of Flowing Wells—Sundry Experiences and Observations at Various Points. | |
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| CHAPTER IV. WHERE THE BLUE-GRASS GROWS | 43-58 |
| Interesting Petroleum Developments in Kentucky and Tennessee—The Famous American Well—A Boston Company Takes Hold—Providential Escape—Regular Mountain Vendetta—A Sunday Lynching Party—Peculiar Phases of Piety—An Old Woman’s Welcome—Warm Reception—Stories of Rustic Simplicity. | |
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| CHAPTER V. A HOLE IN THE GROUND | 61-80 |
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| The First Well Drilled for Petroleum—The Men Who Started Oil on Its Triumphant March—Colonel Drake’s Operations—Setting History Right—How Titusville was Boomed and a Giant Industry Originated—Modest Beginning of the Greatest Enterprise on Earth—Side Droppings that Throw Light on an Important Subject. | |
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| CHAPTER VI. THE WORLD’S LUBRICANT | 83-114 |
| A Glance at a Pretty Settlement—Evans and His Wonderful Well—Heavy Oil at Franklin to Grease all the Wheels in Creation—Origin of a Popular Phrase—Operations on French Creek—Excitement at Fever Heat—Galena and Signal Oil-Works—Rise and Progress of a Great Industry—Crumbs Swept Up. | |
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| CHAPTER VII. THE VALLEY OF PETROLEUM | 117-154 |
| Wonderful Scenes on Oil Creek—Mud and Grease Galore—Rise and Fall of Phenomenal Towns—Shaffer, Pioneer and Petroleum Centre—Fortune’s Queer Vagaries—Wells Flowing Thousands of Barrels—Sherman, Delamater and “Coal-Oil Johnnie”—From Penury to Riches and Back—Recitals that Discount Fairy-Tales. | |
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| CHAPTER VIII. PICKING RIPE CHERRIES | 157-170 |
| Juicy Streaks Bordering Oil Creek—Famous Benninghoff Robbery—Close Call for a Fortune—City Set Upon a Hill—Allemagooselum to the Front—Cherry Run’s Whirligig—Romance of the Reed Well—Smith and McFate Farms—Pleasantville, Shamburg and Red Hot—Experiences Not Unworthy of the Arabian Nights. | |
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| CHAPTER IX. A GOURD IN THE NIGHT | 173-188 |
| The Meteoric City that Dazzled Mankind—From Nothing to Sixteen-Thousand Population in Three Months—First Wells and Fabulous Prices—Noted Organizations at Pithole—A Foretaste of Hades—Excitement and Collapse—Speculation Run Wild—Duplicity and Disappointment—The Wild Scramble for the Almighty Dollar. | |
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| CHAPTER X. UP THE WINDING RIVER | 191-210 |
| Along the Allegheny from Oil Creek—The First Petroleum Company’s Big Strike—Ruler of President—Fagundas, Tidioute and Triumph Hill—The Economites—Warren and Forest—Cherry Grove’s Bombshell—Scouts and Mystery Wells—Exciting Experiences in the Middle Field—Draining a Juicy Section of Oildom. | |
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| CHAPTER XI. A BEE-LINE FOR THE NORTH | 213-230 |
| The Great Bradford Region Looms Up—Miles of First-Class Territory—Leading Operators—John McKeown’s Millions—Many Lively Towns—Over the New-York Border—All Aboard for Richburg—Crossing into Canada—Shaw’s Strike—The Polar Region Plays a Strong Hand in the Game of Tapping Nature’s Laboratory. | |
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| CHAPTER XII. DOWN THE ZIG-ZAGGED STREAM | 233-256 |
| Where the Allegheny Flows—Reno Contributes a Generous Mite—Scrubgrass Has a Short Inning—Bullion Looms Up with Dusters and Gushers—A Peep Around Emlenton—Foxburg Falls into Line—Through the Clarion District—St. Petersburg, Antwerp, Turkey City and Dogtown—Edenburg Has a Hot Time—Parker on Deck. | |
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| CHAPTER XIII. ON THE SOUTHERN TRAIL | 259-290 |
| Butler’s Rich Pastures Unfold
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