From the July 5, 1948 feature, "MAN-MADE LANDSCAPES—Americans have changed the f...

From the July 5, 1948 feature, "MAN-MADE LANDSCAPES—Americans have changed the face of the West," a portfolio by the brilliant photographer, Andreas Feininger, 70 years ago this week. This image ran with the following caption: "A forest made by man stands on the summit of Signal Hill. At the moment when oil was discovered in 1921 at Signal Hill near Long Beach, a geologist who proved to himself that there was no oil there was rushing to the site to halt the drillers. Within a few weeks wildcatters and riggers from other oil companies were swarming over the hill, trampling on the small cucumbers which until that time were the pride of the poor land. Now a man-made forest stands on the hilltop; more than 1,000 closely packed shafts sink down, some barely reaching the oil stratum and others penetrating almost 3 miles." (Andreas Feininger—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images) #thisweekinLIFE #California #SignalHill