Near Gurley in Cheyenne County, Nebraska — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)
Discovery Oil Well - Marathon Oil Company
Photographed by Connor Olson, September 1, 2021
1. Discovery Oil Well - Marathon Oil Company Marker
On August 9, 1949, the first successful oil well in western Nebraska came in for 225 barrels of oil per day at a total depth of 4,429 feet. Marathon Oil Co. completed the discovery well, Mary Egging No.1, located four miles east and two miles north of this marker, and five miles southeast of the town of Gurley.
The oil discovery ended 60 years of unsuccessful searching in western Nebraska. The first reported interest for oil occurred in 1889, near Crawford, in the northwest corner of the Panhandle. The first recorded drilling operation took place in 1903 near Chadron, also in the northern part of the Panhandle. In 1917, the first exploratory well drilled in the southwest Panhandle, near Harrisburg, failed. Oil searchers sunk many other dry test wells in western Nebraska until success came in 1949. Wells in the Nebraska Panhandle through 1966 had produced more than 216 million barrels of oil. Nebraska's first successful oil well was completed in 1939 in the southeastern corner of the state.
Erected 1967 by Gurley Centennial Committee; Historical Land Mark Council. (Marker Number 56.)
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Location. 41° 15.616′ N, 102° 58.441′ W. Marker is near Gurley, Nebraska, in Cheyenne County. It is on Gold Rush Byway (U.S. 385) 0.3 miles south of Local Road 38, on the left when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Sidney NE 69162, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the Nebraska Panhandle. It is also in the American Midwest, in the Corn Belt, on the prairies, on the Great Plains, and specifically on the High Plains. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Louisiana Purchase.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 9 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Original Site of Boot Hill Cemetery (approx. 7.7 miles away); Hickory Square (approx. 7.9 miles away); Carnegie Library (approx. 8 miles
Photographed by Connor Olson, September 1, 2021
2. Discovery Oil Well - Marathon Oil Company Marker
Credits. This page was last revised on May 14, 2023. It was originally submitted on September 1, 2021, by Connor Olson of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. This page has been viewed 647 times since then and 39 times this year. Last updated on May 14, 2023, by Jeff Leichsenring of Garland, Texas. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on September 1, 2021, by Connor Olson of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. • J. Makali Bruton was the editor who published this page.
