Alto Crater Mystery Part II by Jennie Jo Siscoe as reprinted in the Richland Beacon News July 9,1998 from The Richland Journal Sept.1985 ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** Alto Crater Mystery Part II-continued His mission was accomplished when suddenly, just as he planned ,his "giant" fell emblazoned in a fire that lit up the entire area with a flame that reached 150 feet upward into the black sky. Mr.X stared with amazement. He did it! It worked! He had hurled that corn cob from 200 feet away from the center of that old crater. As if nothing unusual had just happened he carefully found his way home through the nearest thicket, coming around back by the road. "It was light as daylight." said Mr.X. By this time cars and people were lined up in every direction watching this spectacular sight. Mr.X didn't stand around to hear their comments. He wasn't concerned about what he had just done, but decided to stay away from the public. No one saw him, they were too busy watching the fire. He casually went on about his way home. When he walked into his house his parents asked, "Where have you been?" He replied, "I've been over there setting that old crater on fire." Without one question of why or how they said. "Oh. "It was never mentioned again because everyone was glad it was on fire. It is needless to say that the bright fire was the talk of the aera. It burned for one year and completely wiped out the mass of mosquitoes as the fire dried up the salt water breeding grounds. The gas officials had just been to the crater earlier in the week and surveyed it so everyone thought they had hired someone to burn it. Little did they know. Even two or three years later when Mr.X revealed that he did it, no one believed him. As far away as Monroe the fire could be seen. It was top news. And as if out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie, the birds came and the birds came..... The mosquitoes seemed to dwindle away but the bright light caused problems for the birds and insects. The birds would fly over and the light would blind them, causing them to loose direction of flight. They would circle the flame all night until the first light of day. Mr.X said that at times there seemed to be millions of birds for a five mile radius circling, circling. If it had not been at night a great shadow would have been cast below. Finally, out of desperation and exhaustion they fell to the fields below. Many didn't survive, either from the heat and singed feathers or from the fate of the hunters. There were many ducks and geese among the multitude of birds and these were hard times. The birds meant food on the table. There were hundreds of species of birds as well as insects. Orinthologists said several types of South American birds were found--many small parakeets. This was the season to fly south for the winter. Alto at that time was definitely the wrong path to follow. the fire was so bright that people within a half mile radius didn't need lights in their houses. Electricity was easily conserved by the brightness and was a welcome relief of expenses by the hard-hit-by- the-depression residents. Mr.X said the chickens didn't know when daylight ended so it wasn't unusual to find them still feeding at 11o'clock at night not knowing when to go to roost. "It was so bright the chickens laid two eggs a day and a piece of meat to fry with them," said Mr. X jokingly. The fire burned and burned, dwindling down to a 40 or 50 ft flame with a 20 foot base. The water began to dry out of the big hole. Transients (commonly known as hobos in that era) were known to seek refuge at night at the edge of the crater where it was warm from the ever glowing fire. From the store where he worked, Mr.X observed what was happening at the crater. Everyone else was aware of it , too. At different intervals, huge chunks of mud ("as big as a car")where blown into the air. The explosion rattled dishes and window panes for one half mile radius. Finally after many such explosions within a year, the gas well expelled one mud chunk large enough to seal off the fire. That was the end of a long range effort on Mr.X's part on that day in early September 1930. The gas people began leaving Alto about 1935. The three craters in the Richland field had killed the gas boom. Conservation efforts were few and lawsuits were prevalent. The law suits were so prevalent the company gave up and pulled out leaving abandoned wells that still had gas, however. Some landowners took advantage of this. They sold gas to for $3.00 a month to residents on their land just to pay for the pipe they put down to channel the gas. There were no meters. When the lines rusted out the "free" gas was no longer a luxury. Ironic or not, Mr.X married and living near an old abandoned well, burned free gas for 12 years. He said there is still gas in Alto. Some have drilled and taken advantage of this lingering field. Mr.X now a respected senior citizen, has vivid memories of the gas days and his part in it. He sits around Gilley's store, the only general merchandise store left in Alto and reminisces about the past. It is safe to say, few still don't believe him. About three years later after the fire, when Mr. Edgar Roberts said he had set that fire, no one believed him. "I never had any regrets. I never received any thanks. But I'd do it quicker than ever, if the situation was the same." stated Roberts. This is a true story related to me by Mr.X-Edgar Roberts of Alto. The crater remains in Alto filled with water and many fish are in there. Many memories are associated with this crater that last and last and THE END OF A NEVER ENDING STORY especially for EDGAR ROBERTS ALIAS MR X. Note added by Dot Golliher: The tourist guide for Richland Riches of Richland lists this as Alto Gas Crater and states that it was in Ripley's Believe It Or Not and calls it "the world's most expensive swimming pool".Can be seen by appointment only.