An old portable cable tool drilling rig on display somewhere in West Texas. Though this rig never worked anywhere in California, let alone the San Joaquin Valley, the picture is just too cool not to share. This cable tool was probably used to drill for water, rather than oil, but it would have been capable of drilling a shallow oil well. Similar portable cable tool rigs probably worked the west side of the San Joaquin Valley, but we are not aware of any on display.

An old well-pulling rig at the Kern County Museum. These were used to pull sucker rods, or whatever, out of wells in the San Joaquin Valley. It may have been pulled early on by mules, but some old truck probably pulled it around during most of its working life.

A truck mounted well-pulling rig sitting outside the yard at the West Kern Oil Museum in Taft. The old wooden well pullers, like the one above, were rapidly replaced when trucks began appearing in the oil fields.

A well-puller truck at the West Kern Oil Museum, similar to the one above, but with a half-track rather than 4-wheel drive.

Another well puller truck at the West Kern Oil Museum, but bit more modern than the two previous trucks.

A falt-bed truck at the West Kern Museum that is the same type of truck as the one above. Both trucks probably came from the same oil company.

An ancient dump truck the at the West Kern Oil Museum that has seen better days. It probably saw duty with bulldozers and such building roads into some of the old well sites.

A truck mounted well-pulling rig sitting outside the yard at the Olinda Oil Museum in Brea. This museum is a fairly recent addition to the oil museums of California, and it is well worth a visit.

An old portable boiler that at one time sat rusting away in one of the Los Angeles Basin oil fields but has been restored and can be seen these days at the Olinda Oil Museum. It may have even been pulled around by the truck above.

A restored portable oil field boiler at the Kern County Museum in Bakersfield. It is probably an older model than the portable boiler at the Olinda Museum. Nearby in the yard at the Kern Museum there is a stationary boiler that looks almost the same as this one, just a different color and with no wheels of course.