This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!
First Montana oil scare near Great Falls 1904 gas well
In 1904 a natural gas well 32 miles northwest of Great Falls sparked Montana’s first oil fever. The Leota Mining & Manufacturing company drilled to about 1200 feet before abandoning due to red shale. Northern Montana residents and Helena investors flocked to claim land as interest grew in the oil basin near the Sweet Grass arch.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Great Falls
Montana
Icine
Glacier Park
Birch Creek
Teton County
Butte
Fort Benton
Kevin-Sunburat
Leota Company
the Tribune
City
P. B. Gallagher
Dwight Chaffee
P.B. Gallagher
Chaffee
Leota
Dan Patch
Sun Fiver
Alton B. Parker
Theodore Roosevelt
Jack Clifford
Kid Fredericks
Clifford
Montana Oil Company
Ellis
Sweetgrass Arch
John A. Hoffman
Timothy E. Collins
D. L. Ellis
R. J. Fitzgerald
Joe Herring
B. Gallagher
L. M. McDonnell
Bannatyne Brothers
James Jewell
R. W. Berry
M. H. Luther
Daniel Johnson
D. M. Wood
M. D. Duffield
Emil Starz
Helena
C. E. Dutton
J. W. Shields
Ben Feis
J. W. Miller
G. P. Nygre
G. A. Hooper
F. S. Spoffard
D. C. Dulin
Dan Johnson
W. Merrill
W. 8. Frary
B. B. Cook
K. L. Schoenfeld
F. L. Hill
G. B Lockhart
Eugene Picot
William Bittner
N. Cummings
Richard Gies
Dr. M. Knowles
G. M. Hays
Archibald Gray
H. H. Mathaway
Brady
River Press
Lcota
Chateau
Conrad