When Nathina St. Pierre moved to Watford City, North Dakota, she received lots of attention from men. “It was flattering at first,” she said. But it never stopped. Everywhere she went, men of all ages hit on her. The sexual harassment became worse and worse. So St. Pierre took action. This is one story of the oil boom, as told to photojournalist Ben Garvin and produced by Black Gold Boom’s Todd Melby.
Related content: “A Scary Place for Women,” Black Gold Boom’s most popular video. By Ben Garvin.
Imagine you owned mineral rights in western North Dakota. And crude oil was stuck inside rock under the land where you owned those rights. You’d be rich, right? That’s what one Williston man thought too. Then the state came along and took that oil. Black Gold Boom reporter Todd Melby has the story of one man’s fight for oil he believes is rightfully his.
In the last 60 years, Williston has seen its share of oil booms. And with each boom, come lots of male oilfield workers. In 1952, a group of oilfield workers’ wives decided to form a social group called the Ladies Petroleum Club. They’ve been meeting monthly to share meals, play cards, host dances — all kinds of stuff. Audio portrait and photo by Laura Candler.
Photo (left to right): Peggy Heth, Donna Peterson, Linda Alton, Sylvia McCauley, Steph Eslinger and Wendy Bauste.
If you’re hungry or lonely on a Sunday evening in Williston, North Dakota, First Lutheran Church is the place to be. Volunteers from many churches and civic groups take turns cooking meals and providing fellowship to newcomers and those who have been in town for decades.
If you have mineral rights in western North Dakota, the sound of a pumpjack is the sound of money. Click and listen to the eerie sound of one pumper, located a few miles east of Williston, North Dakota.
Boomtowns bring with them appetites. Restaurants catering to oil workers in western North Dakota try to meet diners’ demands. But waits are long, and so are lines for drive-thrus. One solution is the food truck. In Williston, one food truck is putting an authentic twist on Mexican takeaway.
To make it in the Bakken boom, North Dakota newcomers need to work hard and make sacrifices. But what exactly are those sacrifices? Black Gold Boom reporter Todd Melby recently met Chris Larson, Jeffrey Prather and Domanick David (left to right), a group of young men who came to the oil patch looking for work. What they found surprised them.
Shane Osborne arrived in boom country looking for work. He found it. But housing is too expensive so he’s toughing it out in a trailer. Life isn’t great, he says.
