Keystone Tour

1850's America faced an energy crisis. The early factories of the Industrial Age depended on natural light. Candles were dim and smoky. Whale oil, a "renewable" source of lighting for centuries, was becoming increasingly expensive as whales were hunted towards extinction. The reliance on natural light limited operating hours. Science raced to produce an answer. Chemists discovered that petroleum, known for centuries and used for medicinal purposes, could be refined to produce kerosene, a clean-burning lamp oil that produced a bright, white light. All that was needed was an industrial scale source of petroleum!

In 1859, a group of investors hired Edwin Drake to lead a prospecting effort in Northwestern Pennsylvania, along "Oil Creek" (a name that was originally provided by the Seneca people, who skimmed oil from the creek's surface), near Titusville, PA. Drake brought mechanical drilling equipment and struck a gusher at a depth of seventy feet - the first oil well in America. What followed was an Oil Rush mirroring the California Gold Rush a decade earlier. Boomtowns like Pithole went from nothing to 20,000 residents and then, as the oil dried up, back to nothing. Derricks sprouted everywhere. Oil was piped or barged down Oil Creek to Oil City, where Oil Creek flows into the Allegheny River, providing easy access to Pittsburgh and points beyond. Pennsylvania crude found its way into product names like Pennzoil and Quaker State. Of course, the oil boom faded as the fields ran dry, Pennsylvania now ranks 16th in oil production among states, right behind Michigan.

My final two days took me north from Pittsburgh to Titusville, to see the site of the Drake Well, and see what the land looks like 150 years after it was wall-to-wall people and derricks. After following the Allegheny north for the first 25 miles, I headed west, away from the river. The countryside quickly became very different than what I had seen elsewhere. Instead of the hills and ridges of Appalachia, there were plowed cornfields and dairy farms.

My one specific objective as I headed north was to visit Butler and see the site of President Trump's shooting last summer. (I'm always a sucker for "History Happened Here"). The fairgrounds were locked, but I visited the building where the shooter hid, which backed against the fairgrounds fence. It felt like a massive security oversight to have left such a nearby building (the only thing like it near the fairground) unguarded. I did half expect to find a statue of Trump, fist raised, but (thankfully), no.

I overnighted in the quiet college town of Grove City, rejoined the Allegheny at Franklin, and worked my way upriver to Oil City. Oil City looked like a town that had seen much better days - closed storefronts, limited lunch options. Today's population of 9,000 is down from over 20,000 fifty years ago - not much to do once the oil disappears.

The final seventeen miles, up Oil Creek to the Drake Well Site, were the best miles of the trip. After two days of steady rain, the sun came out. The bike trail along the river was lovely and completely empty. Just me, the birds, the deer (I saw two), the creek and the forest. The state park has stationed some old equipment to remind you of what was, but aside from those relics it is amazing to contemplate just how messed up, cut down and polluted this land was versus what it is today. Oil Creek still has its "special sheen", just like when the Seneca roamed this land. I rendezvoused with Sarah, we strolled the grounds of the Drake Well Site, shot our obligatory photos, and the Keystone Tour was over.

I came to Pennsylvania to understand two things: what is the effect on the countryside from centuries of extractive industry, and why have the people changed political allegiance. On the first, all I can say is "the land is very resilient". Unlike the coal mines and fracking pads, here in Titusville most of the activity was above ground. I've included a historic photograph below, but the hillsides were clear cut of trees to make room for derricks. Erosion was a terrible problem, along with massive leaks and spillage of petroleum given the primitive technologies available. Today, you would truly never know. There is a middle ground between "protect the environment" and "utilize resources and create jobs" that we should be seeking. In most of the places I visited, I felt like the local community had found a balance that worked for them. I'm betting Oil City would welcome the activity Frackland now has.

I realized that while I used Pittsburgh itself as the staging ground for the trip, I haven't referenced it at all. Forty years ago, Pittsburgh, surrounded by belching blast furnaces, was the most polluted city in America. Today it's a poster child for post-industrial reinvention. Manufacturing is only 5% of jobs, lower than the US average. The largest employer is UPitt Medical Center. Waymo, Google's autonomous driving unit, has a major engineering team, leveraging Carnegie-Mellon. Duolingo is headquartered here. The skies are clear of soot and smoke. "Stillers" is about as descriptive of modern Pittsburgh as "49ers" is to San Francisco.

James Carville observed "Pennsylvania is Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with Alabama in between" (thanks Mattias). The Pennsyltuckians are culturally conservative, religious and patriotic (I saw veterans' banners in every small crossroads town, preparing for Memorial Day). They aren't looking to Government for solutions, they just want to work, live their lives and be left alone. A generation ago, the "it's the economy, stupid" message of Bill Clinton, who grew up middle class in Arkansas, resonated. Two decades later as Hillary Clinton campaigned for President, they became "deplorables". If they worked in coal country or Frackland, the Democratic Party wanted to restrict their livelihood. The message of "Kamala is for they/them Trump is for us" resonated. So did the message of "protect our borders".

Pennsylvania is the fulcrum of American electoral politics, and the non-unionized working class is the fulcrum of Pennsylvania. A party that demonizes their industries and values will face the same tar and feathering at the ballot box as the Whiskey Rebellion era tax collectors.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for coming on this journey with me! Yes, I will be back next year, somewhere ...