Edward L. Doheny
ABOUT EDWARD L. DOHENY
Oil tycoon who developed the Los Angeles City Oil Field, beginning the Southern California oil boom of the early 1900s.
He worked for the U.S. Geological Survey, looking at lands in Kansas, and then did his own prospecting with little success in South Dakota and the Western territories.
He acquired a sizable fortune during the oil boom in Los Angeles, and he became a notable philanthropist, giving up his 22-room mansion to Mount St. Mary's College.
He was born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, his father Patrick Doheny, an immigrant from Ireland during the Great Famine.
He was one of the inspirations for Upton Sinclair 's novel Oil!, which in turn inspired the film There Will Be Blood from 2007.
