Midwest in Natrona County, Wyoming — The American West (Mountains)
Oil Boom Towns
Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, June 5, 2016
1. Oil Boom Towns Marker
Inscription.
Oil Boom Towns. . “Get out and don’t come back!” was the message John Hunton and his oil prospecting party received in 1873 from a mounted band of Arapahoe Indians while filling glass jars with pure crude oil seeping from the sandy ground. This is the first recorded incident of oil prospecting in the present-day Salt Creek Oil Field. In 1889, a well producing five to ten barrels a day launched Wyoming’s first oil boom. By the early 1920’s, the Salt Creek Field, approximately 20,000 acres in size, appeared as a virtual “oil derrick forest”, extracting more oil than any other field in the U.S. at the time and earning Casper the title of “Oil Capitol of the Rockies.” Workers from around the world flocked to the area, and boom towns – Salt Creek, Lavoye, Snyder to name a few – sprang to life. Roughnecks worked and played hard, fueled by moonshine liquor made in stills tucked away in the nearby rim rocks. Today, only Midwest and Edgerton survive. The promise of riches from “black gold” led to one of the country’s most infamous scandals of the 1920s. In 1921, President Warren G Harding transferred supervision of oil reserves from the Navy to the Department of the Interior. Shortly thereafter, Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall leased the Teapot Dome reserve, just south of the Salt Creek Field, to the Mammoth Oil Company, owned by Harry F. Sinclair, without competitive bidding. Both Fall and Sinclair stood to make “mammoth” profits. Investigations and prosecutions led to the resignations of Fall and the Secretary of the Navy, cancellation of the lease, and prison terms for Fall and Sinclair. After years of court battles, the U.S. Supreme Court voided the Mammoth Oil lease and returned supervision of the Teapot Dome reserve to the Navy.
“Get out and don’t come back!” was the message John Hunton and his oil prospecting party received in 1873 from a mounted band of Arapahoe Indians while filling glass jars with pure crude oil seeping from the sandy ground. This is the first recorded incident of oil prospecting in the present-day Salt Creek Oil Field. In 1889, a well producing five to ten barrels a day launched Wyoming’s first oil boom. By the early 1920’s, the Salt Creek Field, approximately 20,000 acres in size, appeared as a virtual “oil derrick forest”, extracting more oil than any other field in the U.S. at the time and earning Casper the title of “Oil Capitol of the Rockies.” Workers from around the world flocked to the area, and boom towns – Salt Creek, Lavoye, Snyder to name a few – sprang to life. Roughnecks worked and played hard, fueled by moonshine liquor made in stills tucked away in the nearby rim rocks. Today, only Midwest and Edgerton survive. The promise of riches from “black gold” led to one of the country’s most infamous scandals of the 1920s. In 1921, President Warren G Harding transferred supervision of oil reserves from the Navy to the Department of the Interior. Shortly thereafter, Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall leased the Teapot Dome reserve, just south of the Salt Creek Field,
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to the Mammoth Oil Company, owned by Harry F. Sinclair, without competitive bidding. Both Fall and Sinclair stood to make “mammoth” profits. Investigations and prosecutions led to the resignations of Fall and the Secretary of the Navy, cancellation of the lease, and prison terms for Fall and Sinclair. After years of court battles, the U.S. Supreme Court voided the Mammoth Oil lease and returned supervision of the Teapot Dome reserve to the Navy.
Erected by Wyoming State Parks and Cultural Resources.
Location. 43° 24.786′ N, 106° 16.626′ W. Marker is in Midwest, Wyoming, in Natrona County. Marker is on C Street near Navy Row, on the right when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 614 C Street, Midwest WY 82643, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 7 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Salt Creek Oil Field (a few steps from this marker); Society in an Oil Patch (within shouting distance of this marker); Midwest Veterans Memorial (within shouting distance of this marker); a different marker
More about this marker. This marker in on the side of the Salt Creek Museum building. It has been relocated.
Credits. This page was last revised on July 5, 2016. It was originally submitted on July 5, 2016, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 299 times since then and 5 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on July 5, 2016, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.