In the 1950s, North Dakota experienced its first oil boom in the Williston

Sixty Years of Boom and Bust Conway

Basin, on the western side of the state. The region experienced unprece-

Sixty Years of
dented social and economic changes, which were carefully documented in
a 1958 report by four researchers at the University of North Dakota. Since
then, western North Dakota has undergone two more booms, the most

BOOM
recent from 2008 to 2014. Sixty Years of Boom and Bust republishes the
1958 report and updates its analysis by describing the impact of the latest
boom on the region’s physical geography, politics, economics, and social
structure.

Sixty Years of Boom and Bust addresses topics as relevant today as they

Bust
were in 1958: the natural and built environment, politics and policy,

AND
crime, intergroup relations, and access to housing and medical services. In
addition to making hard-to-find material readily available, it examines an
area shaped by resource booms and busts over the course of six decades.
As a result, it provides unprecedented insight into the patterns of develop-
ment and the roots of the challenges the region has faced.

Kyle Conway is an associate professor of communication at the University

of Ottawa. The Impact of Oil IN
North Dakota
1958–2018

The Digital Press at Edited by Kyle Conway

The University of
North Dakota
Sixty Years of
Boom and Bust

The Impact of Oil in North

Dakota, 1958–2018

Edited by
Kyle Conway

The Digital Press at the University of North Dakota

Grand Forks, ND
 Robert Campbell, Samuel Kelley, Ross Talbot, and
Bernt Wills, The Williston Report: The Impact of Oil
on the Williston Area of North Dakota (University of
North Dakota Press: Grand Forks, ND, 1958) is in the
public domain.

All other sections appear under a

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons
By Attribution
4.0 International License.

2020 The Digital Press @ The University of North Dakota

Book Design: William Caraher

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020944021

The Digital Press at the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks,
North Dakota

ISBN-13: 978-1-7345068-3-9 (paperback)

ISBN-13: 978-1-7345068-4-6 (PDF)

Cover photo is by James N. Holter, courtesy of Janet Zander.

Back photo is by Kyle Conway.
 Chapter 1
Introduction and Summary
Bernt L. Wills, Ross B. Talbot, Samuel C. Kelley,
Jr., and Robert B. Campbell1

From the time of its earliest permanent occupance until 1951 the area of
this study had been an agricultural area. Directly or indirectly, almost
every resident had relied primarily upon the thin cover of soil, upon
the vagaries of a capricious weather and upon the biological rhythm of
plant and animal life for his livelihood and for his welfare.
The people there were products of this land. Several generations in
that place had brought about a pattern of living, an adjustment of man
to land which was established and mature. It was a way of life based
upon neighborhoods and communities where major problems were
common problems, where not only rancher and farmer, but banker,
lawyer, doctor, school man, storekeeper—almost everyone there—knew
this way of life, understood it and was a part of it. By most standards
these people were well off, and evidence is lacking that they were less
content with their lot in life than were those in other areas.
That this area was a possible source of oil had been known to geol-
ogists and oilmen since the 1920’s. The people of the area were quite
familiar with the sight of oil derricks and drilling rigs, for numerous
unsuccessful attempts to find oil had been made.2 Most of the people
had become quite inured to talk of oil by the winter of 1950–51 and few
really expected that anything so unusual as the discovery of oil in their
area would upset the even tenor of their lives.
In January, 1951, Amerada Petroleum Corporation reported the re-
covery of a single pint of oil on a test of its Clarence Iverson wildcat well
on the Nesson Anticline of the Williston Basin. That recovery, small

1
The first section of this chapter is by Bernt L. Wills. The summaries are by the
authors of the chapters which follow.
2
It was in 1920 that the Pioneer Oil and Gas Company drilled North Dakota’s
first dry hole, township location 154 N, R 100 W. The Amerada successful effort
of 1951 was at nearby T155 N, R 95 W. So near but yet so far!
8

though it was, stirred oilmen throughout the United States. To them

it indicated the probable opening of a new oil province, the Williston
Basin.
On April 4, 1951, Amerada Petroleum Corporation brought in its
discovery well, Clarence Iverson No. 1, with an initial production of
over 300 barrels in 17 hours, and the oil boom was on.
The onslaught of the boom activity disturbed the established pat-
terns in the impact area. What seemed to be multitudes of strangers
invaded and over-ran the town and rural areas alike. The influx in-
cluded not only members of the oil fraternity—the oil operators, oil
scouts, oil well promoters, the geologists, drillers, lease buyers, royalty
buyers, brokers, etc., but also many people whose coming was related
only in a secondary way to the oil activity itself. These ranged from un-
skilled workers willing to work at anything to an instructor in aesthetic
dancing, and from persons who would cheerfully work outside the law
to professional welfare and religious workers.
Demand for housing far outran supply. All available space was
pressed into service. Garages, granaries, and sheds were converted into
living quarters and business places. Improvised shacks, as well as sub-
stantial structures, were constructed and utilized. Hundreds of house
trailers were brought into the area.
Community services were jammed; schools were clogged and put
on a shift basis, transportation and communication systems were
strained, roads suffered damage from the heavy truck traffic. Repair
work could hardly keep up with the rapid wear. Thus the permanent
residents of the area found that costs of public services rose sharply
while the services declined.
Business activity in the towns soared. The newcomers brought both
capital and demand for goods. Dozens of new establishments came
into being, from small lunch counters and service stations to large oil-
field equipment supply houses. In some instances these establishments
extended well beyond the towns, as along the three-mile highway from
U.S. Highway 10 into the town of Tioga.
In the oil producing area itself the cultural landscape changed as
steel derricks rose in ever increasing numbers, as drillers and geophys-
ical crews sought and found the limits of the pools. Pipe lines were laid
to sidings. Loading racks were erected. Storage tanks went up at wells
and at local terminal points. Warehouses, company offices, and “camps”
were built at desired locations. As gas pressure weakened at producing
wells, the wells were put on pumps and the enormous jacks (for these
are deep wells) became distinctive features of the landscape. At night
 9

OIL WELLS AND PIPELINE NEAR TIOGA, N.D., SUMMER, 1954 —

This is a representative scene of the major North Dakota oil producing area. The
pipe line is the 24-inch line being laid to the Tioga refinery. Note that farming
operations generally continue throughout the field. COURTESY GNDA

the oil fields literally sparkled with the lights of the burning gas flares
which dotted the area like so many torches.
To these landowners on whose property oil was found, or who re-
ceived high payment for mineral rights, the oil development meant
increased wealth and opportunity for “the more abundant life.” To many
of the others it yielded little more than bitterness. Often the original
residents found themselves in the position of a minority group. The
newcomers often had markedly different backgrounds from the older
residents; often they were of different political or religious persuasion.
When the earlier residents sought employment in the oil development
program they found only the lower paid, less skilled jobs open to them,
for the big oil concerns commonly brought their own trained labor
supply into the area.
The almost frenzied activity of the boom gradually subsided and by
1955 conditions could be described as quite well stabilized or settled.
The conditions, however, were not those of 1950, for the effects of oil
development are long-lasting. To all, new or old, the oil development
10

meant readjustment and change. To the state it meant increased wealth

and a partial check on the declining trend of the state’s population. To
the oil producing area it also meant release from almost complete de-
pendence upon an agricultural economy.

AMERADA’S FIELD CAMP AND TIOGA, N.D, SUMMER, 1954 — In

the foreground is the Amerada Camp, first its supply dump (largely pipe, or
casing); in the center of the camp are warehouses and offices followed by 30
company houses. About a mile to the north of the field camp is the town of Tioga.
COURTESY GNDA

Summary

The effects of the oil development have invaded every aspect of life in
the “Basin.” They have influenced the demographic structure, the po-
litical balance, the social organization, employment and standards of
living, and the physical attributes of the area.
These impacts are considered in summary form in the following
paragraphs. The chapters which follow treat of them in greater detail.
 11

Physical Impacts

The area of this study, the “impact area,” consists of much of eastern
Williams County and western Mountrail County in northwestern
North Dakota. The principal oil fields comprise an area about 35 miles
long (north-south) by 5 miles wide, located about 40 miles east of the
city of Williston, North Dakota. (FIGURE 1)
Geologically, this is a portion of a filled basin—the Williston Basin.
The most important oil trap is the Nesson Anticline, and at the time
of this study most of the producing wells are located on that structure.
Topographically this is a plains area, largely overlain by glacial drift.
This region has a semi-arid continental type of climate, with rel-
atively cold winters and hot summers. The average annual rainfall at
Williston is slightly less than 15 inches.

FIG. 1—Oil Fields of Williston and Mountrail Counties

Transportation Network Impacts

The major routes of supply of this area are the main line of the Great
Northern Railway, Federal Highway No. 2, and State Highway No.
40. (FIGURE 1) Very little change in the pattern of the major routes
of supply occurred outside of the oil fields as a result of oil develop-
ment, but within the oil producing areas the changes were marked. In
12

those areas approximately 200 miles of all-weather roads were added

between April, 1951 and July, 1954. This added mileage consisted of
township and county roads and of “well-access” roads. The latter type
were built by the petroleum companies, of which the most active was
the Amerada Petroleum Corporation.
A direct consequence of the oil development activity was the ad-
ditional wear and damage done to road surfaces by the increase in
vehicular traffic (this increase was in both number and weights of
vehicles), and by the attendant increases in maintenance costs. The
exact amount of the road wear and cost which can be attributed to oil
development is difficult, if not impossible, to measure, but that it was
considerable is certain.

Demographic Impacts

The impact of the oil industry on population numbers and characteris-

tics in Williams and Mountrail counties was of varying significance. In
general, notable effects were experienced in the rural non-farm centers
(Ray, Tioga, and Tioga Environs) and in the urban center (Williston)
which were ideally located to serve as residential, service, and focal
points in the oil field and associated developments. The remainder of
the two counties, including the rural impact townships and Stanley,
was noticeably less affected.
The following basic changes in population characteristics seem to
be especially significant.

1. Williams County had a percentage population increase of 26.8%

between 1950 and 1954, whereas Mountrail County had a decrease
of 5.5%. Rural non-farm settlements and urban Williston showed
marked increases due to the direct influence of the oil industry;
the remainder of both counties maintained the downward trend
characteristic of purely rural North Dakota counties.
2. There were changes in the proportion of younger persons relative
to other age groups in those significantly affected centers, with a
trend towards a generally younger population.
3. A relatively large number of people in Ray, Tioga, and Tioga Envi-
rons occupied trailers, illustrating the migratory nature of a fairly
large sector of the labor force.
4. Large numbers of workers and families were attracted to the area
from considerable distances. In each of the rural non-farm and
urban centers a rather large proportion of the population has
been drawn from noncontiguous states.
 13

5. The great increase in workers engaged in the mining and con-

struction, service, and trade classifications reflects the nature of
the development and the increased requirements for various ser-
vices and facilities.
6. The fluid nature of the population and frequent population fluc-
tuations have resulted in a trend towards a lower but more stable
population level. This trend became evident in late 1954.

Social Impacts

The large increase in population, particularly as it represented an

influx of “alien” people to the Basin, was expected to create social prob-
lems, situations for which there would be feelings of dissatisfaction and
around which would develop conflicts in attitudes. It was anticipated
that these attitudes would be readily observable in the opinions of the
inhabitants of the area and in the actions of their organizations and
agencies. Only to a limited extent were these expectations borne out by
the observations.
It was true in Williston that the already existing organizations did
not make general efforts to embrace the newcomers into their member-
ships; but it was also true that there were no overt antipathies toward
the newcomers on the part of organization leaders. There were con-
flicts in Ray and Tioga about specific issues, but the participants in the
conflicts were not identified by background and length of residence as
much as by “conservatism” or “backwardness” and their opposites. The
most general negative attitude about the people involved probably was
that held by the rural residents toward the town merchants, who were
considered to have “sold out” to the oil people. The nearly complete
absence of negative categorical attitudes of “natives” and “newcomers”
regarding each other in Williston is indicated by the latters’ opinions
about the former and the opinions of both groups as to whether or not
the newcomers had been accepted. Both attitudes were positive to the
extent of 99% and 96% respectively.
There was a surprising absence of social problems arising out
of the changed situations. The housing situation was the one most
clearly considered problematic, although it appeared that housing in
general (rather than specific residences) was most often the situation
opined about. There were very few comments about small, dilapidated,
dirty residences in the area, despite the general awareness of a “tight”
housing situation. (Apparently no plans for low-rental housing were
being made either by public agencies or private building firms; all
14

construction appeared to be aimed at high-rental levels, thus creating

what turned out to be a new problem rather than a solution.)
Criminal and immoral behavior did not develop to the level of gen-
eral problem conditions, and there was a virtual absence of comment
regarding it. There were a few expressions of negative attitudes about
the oil people, but they were limited primarily to rural residents’ com-
ments about the bad-check writing of oil field workers.
The really apparent changes, some of which took on the nature of
social problems, were to be found in public agency requirements. The
school systems and the post office (in Williston, at least) were seriously
taxed to keep abreast of the changes. Building could not be accom-
plished at sufficient speed, thus a series of makeshift arrangements
had to suffice; schools had to operate on a split day in the small towns
and the Williston post office had to reorganize its operations and to
remodel its working space. (Other agencies encountered less startling
and less pressing changes with the possible exception of government
road construction and maintenance agencies).
In general, the change was widespread in the circumstances of the
Williston Basin residents, but the definition of these circumstances
as problematic was not sufficient to bring about even more sweeping
changes. Conflicts appeared to be local and confined to specific issues,
which were resolved with so little lasting prejudice that negative atti-
tudes about the “alien” inhabitants were not apparent to a noteworthy
degree.

Political Impacts

The discovery and development of an important natural resource is al-

most certain to involve the phenomenon of political power. In Bertrand
Russell’s words, “power may be defined as the production of intended
effects.”3 When a new oil field is opened there is tremendous activity by
those who desire to produce certain “intended effects.” Such was the
case in the Williston area. First, some of the major oil producers moved
into the new boom area to secure legal authority to develop the oil field.
Then it became necessary to protect investments through the passage of
favorable legislation and the creation of a sympathetic public opinion.
This strategy was not novel on the part of the oil companies but con-
stituted what has been called the utilization of “anticipated reactions.”
The large oil producers formed an association called the North Dakota
3
Bertrand Russell, Power—A New Social Analysis (London: George Allen and
Unwin, Ltd., 1938), p. 35.
 15

Oil and Gas Association; some landowners and businessmen organized

the Williams County Landowner’s and Royalty Owner’s Association
and other like interest groups. At the state level, the State Legislative
Research Committee delved into the problem of proposing oil legisla-
tion that would be in the interests of the State of North Dakota. Out of
the crucible of the legislative process came oil legislation which was a
mixture of the efforts of pressure groups, legislative committees, law-
yers, research directors, prominent politicians, and influential citizens.
The unstable power situation in the North Dakota legislature meant
that compromise was a necessity but the oil companies were successful,
for the most part, in securing tax and conservation features in oil and
gas legislation that were compatible with their best interests.
In the administration of the oil laws new frictions and contentions
arose. The issue of well-spacing was threshed out but the decisions
reached did not always meet with the concurrence of some of the land
owners. The role of the State Geologist became more complex and
confusing as scientific judgments and political and economic interests
became intertwined. The importance of the North Dakota Industrial
Commission in the field of oil policy was soon apparent and, more
recently, the role of the Public Service Commission became increas-
ingly important due to the construction of pipe lines and the wholesale
price of natural gas products. The value of state-owned land in the oil
areas assumed a new significance as its revenue-producing capacity in-
creased very considerably with the discovery of oil.
The public’s role in this new venture was interesting and perplexing.
The results of a questionnaire survey, which was conducted by the au-
thors of this study, strongly indicated that most people in the Williston
area actually did not understand even the main features of the legis-
lation pertaining to oil. Also, in an effort to create a favorable climate
of opinion for their activities, the oilmen created a local unit of the Oil
Industry Information Committee in order to “educate” the youth and,
to a lesser extent, the adults about the production and distribution of
oil. Their efforts were well-planned and intelligently executed but there
is some question as to whether the techniques constituted education or
propaganda. This study attempts to analyze that issue.
What might be termed the “power elite” has not changed notably
since the advent of oil. The executives of the major oil producers have
been added to the existing power structure in the Williston area com-
posed primarily of prominent bankers, lawyers, and businessmen.
Thus a new and dynamic element was grafted onto the already existing
power structure within the local communities and principally within
the city of Williston.
16

As one would expect, the rapid influx of population caused some

disruption and overburdening of the local governmental and non-gov-
ernmental facilities in the Williston area. The public schools were
particularly hard pressed; the cities had to increase their municipal
services for considerable numbers of new customers. The changes in
the “old way of life” and the increases in taxes caused the demand for a
different form of city government in Williston, the election of a new city
council in Ray, and some intra-community conflicts in Tioga.
Neither politics nor public administration, of course, stand alone.
The economic basis of politics in the Williston area was quickly ap-
parent. Much of the political controversy centered around the ancient
question of who was going to get what, and how. Social changes in
terms of in-migration, the interaction of different cultures, the in-
creased public welfare burdens, etc., were not as vast as expected,
but these changes may have a rather substantial long-run effect upon
voting patterns and habits. The geography of the area is certain to have
an impact upon future political events. If the oil fields are considerably
extended and increasingly productive the changes in voting patterns of
the electorate may again be modified.
As of the end of this study (1955), it appeared that oil had not caused
any political revolution in North Dakota. The picture should be some-
what clearer after the counting of the ballots that will be cast in the
November election in 1956.

Economic Impacts

The economy of the Williston Basin is characterized by agriculture.

The peculiarities of climate and rainfall limit the agriculture of the
area to dry-farming and grazing. Nearly 80 percent of the value of farm
products sold in 1954 were derived from field crops, mainly cash grains
and the remainder from livestock and livestock products.
This type of agriculture, which is characteristic of the Great Plains,
requires extensive farming on a very large scale. Average farm size in
Williams County is over 830 acres, yet the typical farm is operated on a
family basis with a large capital outlay for mechanical equipment and
little outlay for hired labor. Nearly 90 percent of all farms in Williams
County were operated by full or part owners. Only 60 percent of all
farms employed any hired labor in 1954 and only 15 percent spent more
than $500 for farm wages.
The non-agricultural sector of the area’s economy is engaged ex-
clusively in the distribution of goods and services to the farm sector. It
produces, locally, almost nothing that is consumed by the area. Prior
to the development of petroleum extraction, manufactures and mining
 17

were limited to printing and publishing, domestic food processing and

the extraction of lignite on a limited scale. Nearly all private employ-
ment and income was derived from occupation in trade, service, and
transportation.
In this type of economic situation, extensive agriculture tends to
evict people from farms in an area where the number of other employ-
ment opportunities is dependent upon the size of the farm population
and farm income. The out-migration that results produces a popula-
tion decline and a consequent reduction in income and employment.
The discovery of oil in this area has had two primary effects upon
the economy of the area. First, it has created supplemental income to
farm families through the sale of mineral leases and mineral rights,
and to a smaller number of persons through royalty payments on land
with producing wells. This supplementary income has permitted the
repayment of mortgage obligations on farm land, the purchase of new
farm equipment, and general farm improvements. In many cases it
has provided the capital outlay necessary to eliminate the farm from
sub-marginal status.
Second, it has provided additional job opportunities directly and
indirectly as it has employed individuals in well drilling activity, in the
servicing of oil extraction, and in the impact of an expanding popu-
lation upon the trade and service industries. Between 1947 and 1954,
manufacturing employment in Williams County increased by nearly 90
percent and value added by manufacture nearly 300 percent. Employ-
ment in retail and wholesale trade increased by 30 percent and sales
by 70 percent. The major expansion in indirect employment was in the
service industries. In this industrial sector, employment increased by
more than 60 percent and service receipts had a gain of 226 percent
over 1947.
As these values suggest, the oil development has stimulated the
local economy to levels of activity in excess of that expected under the
economic condition existing prior to 1951. However, it is apparent that
the initial impact of the development has acted as an autonomous
factor inducing change that is not warranted by the long-term poten-
tial of petroleum extraction in the area. The local economy is beginning
to feel the effects of the induced over-investment in business invento-
ries, in land, and in extended credit. A favorable combination of factors
such as winter climate had, however, acted to reduce the rate of growth
induced by the discovery and thus to decrease the magnitude of the
adjustment below that which has been observed in other “boom” areas.
It appears quite likely that oil will provide a sustaining factor in this
economy in the future and that much of the adjustment to the altered
economic structure is already accomplished.