There are wells and then there are wells!
In the United States, until some years after the Civil War, the majority of wells were “open,” i.e., holes dug in the ground and lined, or cased, with brick, stone, or wood. Although they are sometimes dug with picks and shovels, most wells today are made by rotary or percussion drills. A drilling bit set in the bottom of a drilling pipe is rotated by machinery on the ground level and as the cut deepens, more sections of pipe are fastened to the sections already in use. Regardless of the drilling method, well walls are usually cased with iron or steel to prevent cave-ins. Casing is inserted when the desired depth has been reached or, in some instances, as the well is being drilled.
Plans and dreams that went awry
This well was drilled late in the 1800’s as the area’s oil reserves were being developed. It was hoped that another profitable oil well would result, but when it struck the aquifer, the well was flooded in a spectacular fashion. Today, this problem would be addressed, but they lacked the technology to rectify the problem and the well was abandoned to the water.
The well sits on private property owned first by the Hearne family and currently by the Kinnicutt family. The endless stream of water has been a problem at times by flooding basements, creating ice and slick conditions. The well has recently gotten a new cap.
Please do not touch or approach the well too closely – the rocks are very slippery and footing is very hazardous. The well is not 15 ft from the road and the shoulders of the road are broad. Your best viewing of this feature is approaching it from the west, traveling east on State Route 417, just east of the Village of Bolivar and near Kossuth.
Flowing artesian wells
Water is forced upward under pressure in the well you see at these coordinates. The water in an artesian well flows from an aquifer, which is a layer of very porous rock or sediment, usually sandstone, capable of holding and transmitting large quantities of water. The geologic conditions necessary for an artesian well are an inclined aquifer sandwiched between impervious rock layers above and below that trap water in it. Water enters the exposed edge of the aquifer at a high elevation and percolates downward through interconnected pore spaces. The water held in these spaces is under pressure because of the weight of water in the portion of the aquifer above it. If a well is drilled from the land surface through the overlying impervious layer into the aquifer, this pressure will cause the water to rise in the well. In areas where the slope of the aquifer is great enough, pressure will drive the water above ground level in a spectacular, permanent fountain. This is the case in this well.
To claim this cache answer the following questions: 1) How many spouts are flowing on the cap, including the top? 2)What has the weather been like in the previous week? Previous month? 3)How does the weather, both short and long-term, relate to the amount of water/number of spouts running?
All logs that are posted before you receive an answer from the owner will be DELETED! Please wait for verification of your find. Unless I am traveling (rare) I check my emails EVERY day.
