The discovery well in the vast Panhandle-Hugoton Gas Field, the largest known gas field in the world, is located one mile east of this point on the east slope of John Ray Butte. Dr. Charles N. Gould discovered the geological structure in 1905 while employed by the United States Geological Survey, and he located the well in 1917. The well, Hapgood, Masterson No. 1, was started on December 1, 1917, and completed as a gas well on December 7, 1918, at a cost of $70,000 and a depth of 2605 feet. It produced about 5,000,000 cubic feet of gas per day. This discovery initiated development of the great gas field and of the Panhandle oil fields. The gas field now extends 275 miles from the Texas Panhandle north into Kansas, with a width in places of more than 90 miles. Pipelines from the field transmit gas to Denver, Kansas City, St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, and most cities and towns of the Midwest, and lines also carry gas to Los Angeles and other cities and towns on the west coast.