Dippin’ and Trippin’

One night in North Dakota, our correspondent tries chewing tobacco for the first time.

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‘Black Gold Boom’ film documentary

The PBS doc is now available for streaming.

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Oil Country: A View From The Air

Take a tour of oil country with photographer Ben Garvin.

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Then Came The Bust

Stories of folks trying to survive a huge drop in oil prices and fewer rigs pumping in the Bakken.

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‘Oil To Die For’

“What’s the most dangerous job in America? … I’d have to say oilfield worker.”

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Songs from the Oilfield

Jessie Veeder, Erik Koskinen, Kris Kitko and other musicians playing oilfield songs.

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Fight Night in Crude Country

“I like it,” says one woman. “The fighting. The blood. The broken bones.”

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Lisa Westberg Peters: Fractured Land

How a children’s book author became obsessed with the Bakken boom.

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Stuffed Shirts v. Blue Collars

“Rolling coal is more than a thing. I almost call it a movement.”

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Past and Present

A retired carpenter paints the oil boom.

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The Other Boomtown Hamm

Billionaire Harold Hamm isn’t the only Hamm in town. Phil Hamm’s got something to say about the boom too.

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Peace and Quiet

“I grew up on this place,” she says. “It’s pretty hard to leave.”

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Grandma’s Got a Nice Truck

Cory Spotted Bear enjoys seeing folks who haven’t had much money get some monetary benefits from the oil boom.

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Woo Pig Sooie

Cooking ribs for roughnecks, but not staying forever: “Arkansas boys are Arkansas boys.”

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They’re Like Packs of Wolves

Everywhere she went, men hit on her. So Nathina St. Pierre took action.

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Tioga Oil Spill: ‘Yeah, That’s a Big One’

“It’s like a creature that’s let loose and they are trying to get control of it.”

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A Fresh Start

“I wanted a fresh start so I came to North Dakota.”

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In The Eye Of The Boom

“The beers were on the verge of becoming whiskeys.”

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Oil Patch Code Blue: Juhnke v. Marathon Oil

As oil field jobs go, Dustin Bergsing seemed to have a pretty safe one.

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Oil Patch Code Blue: Beautiful Man

“I am so madly in love with that kid. Even now.”

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Oil Patch Code Blue: Mad as Hell

As the boom rolled through the west, Bismarck’s OSHA office failed to keep pace.

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Oil Patch Code Blue: There’s the Pager

A day with the busy paramedics at the Killdeer Area Ambulance Service.

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It’ll Make A Man Out OF You

What’s it like to work on a drilling rig? Tait knows.

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Mathew Henderson: The Lease

He worked in the Bakken oilfields. And wrote a book of poems about it.

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Stan Reep’s Milkshake

A mineral rights fight in western North Dakota.

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Mousey the Mudlogger

In North Dakota, she’s a mudlogger. In Minneapolis, she’s a musician.

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Bacon Ends, Not Baking Hens

Meet the leading member of the Ladies Petroleum Club.

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The Dirty Girls Aim to Clean Up Williston

The oil boom of western North Dakota is mostly a man’s game. Meet two women who are finding opportunity in oil country.

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Williston Changes Before Her Eyes

Beth Hafele has a police scanner and a clear view of Williston’s growth.

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Richard Karpe: You Gotta Be Careful Out There

When a mud pump fell on Richard Karpe’s arm, doctors wanted to amputate. Not so fast, he said.

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Finding Homes for Boomtown Teachers

How one school district is housing teachers in an suddenly expensive small town.

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It’s Simply A Meal: Come and Eat

Share a meal at First Lutheran Church in Williston, N.D.

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Kris Kitko: Accidental Activist

Kitko sings “Frack That Oil” and “The EPA Hates Babies” in this interview.

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Cramped, Crammed, Crowded: Raising Four Boys in a Skid House

Tots in a trailer in the oil patch.

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Daniel Brock: It’s Way Worth It

Daniel prefers hybrid cars to pickups.

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Jessie Veeder’s Boomtown [video]

Jessie Veeder reflects on how the oil boom in western North Dakota has affected her hometown.

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I Miss My Wife and Kids

A trucker misses his family.

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No View, No Seats: Maeda’s Tasty Tacos

A mother-daughter team feed hungry oil workers Mexican food.

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Trooper on the Bus Goes Round & Round

What’s it like to ride a school bus in the bustling oil patch? Listen to this story to find out.

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Oil Patch Businesses To Lose Foreign Help

The company organizing foreign student visas for oil patch businesses halts program.

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Wes St. Jon: The Oilfield Cowboy

For those in the oil patch, “this is the story of your life,” Wes says.

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They Call Us ‘The Sardines’

After graduating from high school in Minnesota, they came to the oil patch with big dreams.

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Roughneck Family [video]

“We travel together. We sleep in the same camp. We’re pretty much family.”

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A Rig Will Make You or Break You [video]

Says William Scherf, “You come to work, you can’t do it, you go home.”

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Catch of the Day

This roughneck prefers bow fishing to video games.

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Nowhere To Lay My Head

Reid came to oil country looking for a job as a dishwasher.

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Concealed Weapons Permits On Rise In Oil Country

Newly released data from the North Dakota Attorney General’s office shows a fast rise in concealed carry permits so far […]

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Oil Patch Crime: How Bad Is It? [audio + video]

N.D.’s attorney general says crime in oil country is no worse than elsewhere in the state. But his analysis is missing key data.

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Boomtown Stats

How much do oil workers earn? We know.

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McGregor: It’s A Huge Change

Forget Cheers. The Sportsman’s Bar is really is the place where everyone knows your name.

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Tattoo Your Ride, Not Your Hide

James Goeres sells pickup truck stickers from a mobile home. His motto: “Tattoo Your Ride, Not Your Hide.”

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How Oil Leaves North Dakota — For Now

Due to a dearth of pipelines, oil companies are moving crude via rail.

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Gotta Be An Eight [audio + video]

Cattle roping at a truck stop parking lot.

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Jessie Veeder’s Boomtown

Jesse Veeder returned home, experienced the oil boom and wrote a song about it.

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Highway of Hope

Adell Hackworth sells food (and wisdom) in North Dakota’s oil patch.

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A Visit to the 4P BBQ Food Shack

Selling BBQ to roughnecks in Keene, N.D.

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All Aboard! The Oil Patch Train

Amtrak’s Empire Builder travels from Chicago to Seattle or Spokane every day, making several stops in North Dakota.

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Born To Be A Roughneck

In cities, people express their style any number of ways…

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From Worm’s Corner To The Corner Office

You never know what you might find in the trash.

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Dreaming of Sleep

Roughnecks and other oil field workers make big money. But that money doesn’t come without sacrifice.

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Homeless in the Oil Patch

“The word is out nationwide that there are jobs in North Dakota.”

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Meet Bobcat John. He Sells Knives To Oil Workers.

What’s not to love about Bobcat John? He’s a burly bear of a man who sells knives to oil workers.

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On Man Camps, Bakken Billions and Foosball

Oil drilling on federal lands may soon happen faster. U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announces plans to decrease […]

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Want To Go To The Movies?

When you’re working in the oil patch thousands of miles from home, friends are more important than ever. Just ask Kelvin Lacey, Alfredo Cantu and Julio Pulido.

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Shane Osborne: It Ain’t Working Out So Good

He found work. But housing? That’s a big challenge.

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Bryan Johnson: I’ve Never Seen Anything Like It

A former LA cop says Watford City traffic is worse than California rush hour.

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Dickinson Speaks

The local impact of the Bakken boom.

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