In an earlier postcard story related to Shreveport, reference was made to the history of the oil industry in this northwest corner of Louisiana.
Near the border of Texas and Arkansas, Shreveport remained a headquarters for petroleum companies until the end of the 20th century.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shreveport,_Louisiana
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Miss Ida Hartl lived in Clyman, a village in Dodge County of southeast Wisconsin.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clyman,_Wisconsin
The village was named for pioneer and frontiersman, James Clyman (1792-1881) – who was born on a Virginia farm owned by George Washington and who participated in expeditions, war parties, and trail-blazing across the expanding United States.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clyman
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In December of 1912, Ida received a postcard from her brother, John.
John Hartl mailed the postcard from Shreveport, Louisiana.
The face of the postcard is a photograph of a “Burning Gas Well” in Oil City, near Shreveport.
For decades of the 20th century, the tapping of new gas and oil resources was sometimes accompanied by great fires at the well-head.
Current drilling processes, with continuous pressure management, reduce the frequency of oil well fires – although catastrophic fires can occur due to accidents, arson, bombardment in war, and lightening.
From the Wiki:
“early oil wells did not “always burn,” but they were prone to fires due to the lack of proper control mechanisms, often resulting in uncontrolled blowouts where the oil and gas would gush out, readily igniting if a spark was present; this was particularly common before the development of modern pressure control equipment in the early 20th century.”
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On the reverse, John reports that he arrived “all right”.
There is no other message, so we lack any clues about John’s mission to Louisiana.
Ida preserved the postcard throughout her life.
One hopes that John accomplished his business in Shreveport and that he shared other postcards with sister Ida.
GENEALOGICAL NOTE
Based on genealogical data from Wisconsin, I believe that the family name of the brother ad sister is “Hartl”.
Alas, I have no yet found a clear identification of Ida and John.
