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; Oil drilling is creating thousands of jobs.
; Older workers are joining the rush.
; Would Williston, N.D., work for you?
Home on the plains:
Charles McKinney, 55,
bunks in a trailer with five
other men. Every other
week, he drives home
(third from left) to Spearfish, S. D. Nearly half of his
crew is older than 50.
Boomtown U.S.A.
BAKKEN
FORMATION
As the sun set on the plainsofnorthwestern North Dakota, Charles McKinney,55, wokeup in the crowded bunk
room of a small metal trailer parked in
a stubbly hay field. McKinney and five
other men began preparing for their
12-hour night shift on an oil derrick.
Everything they wore—insulated coveralls, steel-toed boots, thick gloves,
hard hats—was coated in oil.
The crew walked the short distance
to the 136-foot-high derrick, where
they work with few breaks in fre-
quently sub-zero temperatures. The
day shift headed back to their trailer
to eat, watch TV and go to bed.
Williston
Bismarck
NORTH DAKOTA
WILLISTON
BASIN
Photographs by Luceo
By Anna Seaton Huntington
