For a little over three-fourths of a century thousands of men in the United States have toiled to establish and develop the petroleum industry. Starting along Oil Creek in 1859, they moved up and down the Allegheny River, into West Virginia, and thence across the continent, opening up new sources of supply in Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, California, and other States. Through their initiative, persistence, courage, resourcefulness, and vision, they created a new and magnificent industry — one typically American.