Midwest in Natrona County, Wyoming — The American West (Mountains)

Salt Creek Oil Field

Midwest

Photographed by Jimmy Emerson

1. Salt Creek Oil Field Marker

Inscription. In 1873 John Hunton and his oil prospecting party encountered a mounted band of Arapaho 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. Stockman were aware of pools of oil in the creek bottoms during cattle trailing days. These oil seeps led to the discovery of Salt Creek, one of Wyoming's largest oil fields, nine miles long by five miles wide. In 1883, the first claims were filed in the 22,000 acre Salt Creek field. In 1889, a well producing five to ten barrels a day launched Wyoming's first oil boom. The fist major strike in the oil field occured in 1908 at a depth of 1,050 feet.

By the early 1920s, the Salt Creek Oil 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 Capital of the Rockies". Salt Creek was one of the first unitized oil fields in the United States. Under unitization one oil company operates properties for all owners and

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more efficient recovery methods can be used. Improved practices in Salt Creek have recovered many additional millions of barrels of oil, and many wells are still active today.

Erected 2025.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Indigenous Peoples and Communities • Industry & Commerce. A significant historical year for this entry is 1873.

Location. 43° 24.572′ N, 106° 16.184′ W. Marker is in Midwest, Wyoming, in Natrona County. It is on Wyoming Hwy 259 (Wyoming Route 259), on the right when traveling south. Located at the junction of WY 259 and US 387 at the location where a previous marker with the same title but different text was located. The old marker as of Oct 2024 was at the Salt Creek Museum in Midwest. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Midwest WY 82643, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Westward Expansion Trails Region

and in Greater Casper.

It is also in the American Mountain West.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Rocky Mountains,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Other nearby markers. At

Photographed by Jimmy Emerson, July 8, 2025

2. Salt Creek Oil Field Marker

least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: A different marker also named Salt Creek Oil Field (here, next to this marker); Oil Boomtowns (a few steps from this marker); Gushers, (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Oil Boom Towns (approx. 0.4 miles away); a different marker also named Salt Creek Oil Field (approx. half a mile away); Society in an Oil Patch (approx. half a mile away); Midwest Veterans Memorial (approx. half a mile away); Geology (approx. 1.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Midwest.

More about this marker. This is a replacement for an identically-titled marker that has been removed. The wording on this marker, although similar to the earlier marker, differs enough to merit its own page.

Credits. This page was last revised on October 1, 2025. It was originally submitted on October 1, 2025, by Jimmy Emerson of Dalton, Georgia. This page has been viewed 58 times since then and 25 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on October 1, 2025, by Jimmy Emerson of Dalton, Georgia. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.