The Hunt
Five years, thirty-four dry holes.
“…he was chasing the muddy. He thought he had another dry hole and didn't want to test it. Sinclair said no test, no dry-hole money. Well, he tested it, and it was the discovery of Bell Creek.” Bill Champion, Champion Oil
For five years, Sam Gary was chasing the Muddy — the Muddy Sandstone Formation, a geological layer running north from Wyoming into southeastern Montana. He drilled thirty-four dry holes. He came within six miles of the field and missed. On his thirty-fifth try, the Muddy gave it up.
The Boom
A field town rises out of the grass.
The massive, sudden influx of activity beginning in June 1967 brought more than 500 full-time drilling and pipeline jobs to what was to become the town of Belle Creek. By April 1968, nearly $4 million had been paid for assets in southeastern Montana. The population of Broadus doubled from 1960 to 1968. Property valuation in Powder River County nearly doubled in one year. This revenue funded a generation of public infrastructure in Broadus: the high school, courthouse, community center, and clinic.
The Players
“I'll spend my goddamn money the way I want.”
Born on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation, Edward "Tiger Mike" Davis dropped out of high school and moved to Denver. He drove cement trucks by day and swamped bars by night. His size and stature landed him work as a chauffeur and bodyguard to the mature heiress and president of The Denver Post, Helen Bonfils, whom he later married. He left her for one of the popular McGuire sisters, who was also seeing Al Capone's successor.
Pugnacious, profane, and shrewd, his aggressive bidding on state leases drew national attention to Bell Creek, sparking a wild rush for remaining leases.
One lease auctioneer once pointed out: “Mr. Davis, you just raised your own bid.”
To which Tiger Mike replied: “I'll spend my goddamn money the way I want.”
“Tiger Mike Davis came in and he was a crazy man. Oh, he was wild.” Bill Champion, Champion Oil
The Groundwork
The work behind the wells.
Contract landman, aviator, and owner of multiple oil and gas companies in Montana, Wyoming, and North Dakota, Bill Champion relates firsthand the legal and logistical work behind production: moving between operators and mineral rights owners, state and county land offices, and abstract companies.