The first producers did not drill wells, they dug them. This was because the oil was fairly close to the surface in Oil Springs. They also dug because it was very difficult to transport drilling gear to the site. There was 16 kilometers of swamps between the oil fields and the railroad. Later they did drill through the floor of the dug wells. The cribbed area caught the flow of oil and it was baled out. In these early days the price of oil was quoted by the gallon, not the barrel.