Re: Crested Butte Conoco

From Tony Matkovich, who was a clerk in the Crested Butte depot in the 1920s.

At first, when automobiles began to arrive in Crested Butte, gasoline was shipped to Crested Butte in "CONOCO 50 gallon steel barrels or drums and dispensed as needed by using a hand pump. Later on the CONTINENTAL OIL CO "CONOCO" installed a storage tank just south of the depot and next to the house track. After completion of the storage tank gasoline was shipped to Crested Butte by rail in CONOCO railroad tank cars, Gasoline was pumped from the railroad tank car into the storage tank (I believe) by an electric pump. Empty tank cars were returned to Gunnison.
The Crested Butte Hardware Store was named the CONOCO dealer and dispensed their gasoline from two (2) gasoline pumps in front of the hardware store. They also had a truck body tank which was loaded on a truck from which gasoline was transported from this storage tank near the depot to their under-ground tanks in front of the store. The Crested Butte Hardware Store is still one of CONOCO dealers in Crested Butte.

During my time, TEXACO did not have a gasoline storage tank in Crested Butte. However, TEXACO gasoline was sold in Crested Butte by Adolph Fisher in connection with his beer garden business, TEXACO gasoline was trucked to Crested Butte by our local expressman Mr. Joseph Pecharich,,Sr. He would drive his one (1) ton International truck to Gunnison and load up with 12 fifty (50) gallon steel drums and return to Crested Butte with a full load of TEXACO gasoline. He would empty the barrels or drums by pouring the gasoline from the steel-drums into the underground gasoline tank in front of the beer garden. When more gasoline was needed, he would return to Gunnison with the empty drums for a refill.