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. “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

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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.

Erected by Wyoming State Parks and Cultural Resources.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • Natural Resources. In addition, it is included in the Former U.S. Presidents: #29 Warren G. Harding series list.

Location. 43° 24.786′ N, 106° 16.626′ W. Marker is in Midwest, Wyoming, in Natrona County. It is on C Street near Navy Row, on the right when traveling

Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, June 5, 2016

2. Oil Boom Towns Marker

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.

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 least 8 other markers are within 2 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); Oil Boomtowns (approx. 0.4 miles away); a different marker also named Salt Creek Oil Field (approx. 0.4 miles away); a different marker also named Salt Creek Oil Field (approx. 0.4 miles away); Gushers, (approx. half a mile away); Geology (approx. 1½ miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Midwest.

More about this marker. This marker in on the side of the Salt Creek Museum building. It has been relocated.

Oil Boom Towns and Salt Creek Oil Fields Markers image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Jimmy Emerson, Oct 2024

3. Oil Boom Towns and Salt Creek Oil Fields Markers

Credits. This page was last revised on November 22, 2025. It was originally submitted on July 5, 2016, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 516 times since then and 22 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on July 5, 2016, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. 3. submitted on November 15, 2025, by Jimmy Emerson of Dalton, Georgia.