During the Civil War, Charles G. Whittier had served in the 20th Maine Infantry Regiment, and as a member of Company C had been wounded in the fighting at Little Round Top at the Battle of Gettysburg.

State land in Aroostook county was made available for $1.25 an acre, fifty cents in cash and the rest to be paid out in labor as the settlers were required to build new roads.

[1] Charles and Ruth Whittier were early immigrants to Aroostook, and they built a simple, one room log cabin in which they raised their seven children.

In 1890, 23 years old and the owner of a new suit of clothes and $25 left for traveling expenses, Max Whittier took the railroad west to Santa Paula, California where he got a job as a farm hand in the area's lemon orchards.

In partnership with Burton Green, Whittier decided to gamble his entire life savings of $13,000 and bought up parcels of land along the Kern River.

The Green & Whittier leases at Kern River proved to be among the most productive oil lands yet found in California.

Every room in every hotel and lodging house was taken and even tents were set up to take care of the overflow of people who came from all over the United States.

Many people thought I was making a mistake for not cashing in on my holdings, but I felt that money so easily made would likely go as quickly.

At its inception, Max Whittier was the largest shareholder of the new company [3] [4], and Burton Green was elected to serve as its treasurer.

Using a wooden derrick and steam powered cable tool drilling, the Belridge Oil Company Well No.

[9] The garish painted statues turned the mansion into a tourist attraction until it was heavily damaged in a 1980 fire and torn down five years later.