This week in History’s Attic. The cry of oil was heard on the Rosebud. Gregory County was to have their own oil field. Yes Gregory had an oil well in 1921. The well was located one mile east of the Gregory Depot on the Delmer Helvey farm (now just west of the Gregory Golf Course). The stock for the well was being sold fast and furious as it was felt it was going to be a boom. And to further the excitement it was discovered that oil had spouted out of the casing one night when no one was around. But as typical with one of these boom events there always seems to be a bust. When it was discovered that a barrel of used oil had been dumped down the casing!! The well soon folded up shortly after that. And the only thing left to mark Gregory’s oil boom is a casing sticking out of the ground 12 inches now in a pasture. Next week History’s Attic will tell the tale of how a Bank in Burke changed its name on Halloween night. See you then.

Author Richard Papousek, originally published in the Burke Gazette on April 12, 2023