The Untamable Monster Well of 1894: Big Moses

The Untamable Monster Well of 1894: Big Moses

July 10, 2026 · 15 min

About this episode

The episode recounts the story of the Big Moses gas well, which became uncontrollable after a drilling operation in 1894.

In September 1894, a routine drilling operation on a Tyler County, West Virginia, farm broke into a massive natural gas pocket, unleashing one of the most powerful and uncontrollable wells the world had ever seen. For nearly a year, the Big Moses well defied human engineering, triggered massive fissures in the ground, survived two separate lightning strikes, and wasted billions of cubic feet of gas. Join us as we tell this wild true story from the West Virginia oil boom era about the legendary Big Moses gas well. If you like these historical stories, make sure to hit that subscribe button and leave us a comment on your favorite podcast app to help others find the podcast. Thanks for listening!

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Hosts: Steve Gilly, Rod Mullins

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Places: Tyler County, West Virginia

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