02/17/2026
Watch rare and possibly unique footage of the legendary Pico No. 4 oil well in operation in this 1985 California oil history film produced by the California Department of Conservation’s Division of Oil and Gas. Shot while the well was still actively pumping — five years before its 1990 shutdown — this program preserves moving images of California’s longest continually producing commercial oil well at work in Pico Canyon (Mentryville), in the Santa Clarita Valley.
The film features oil field foreman Frenchy Lagasse explaining and demonstrating the workings of traditional cable-tool drilling equipment in Pico Canyon. Using a detailed model derrick he built himself, Lagasse walks through the mechanics of the walking beam, bull wheel, bailer, jackline systems, and other machinery that defined early California oil production. His segment provides one of the clearest on-camera explanations of how these historic systems operated in Mentryville.
Watch rare and possibly unique footage of the legendary Pico No. 4 oil well in operation in this 1985 California oil history film produced by the California ...
