The Marland Oil Company


     One of the early players in the Hutchinson County Oil Field was Marland Oil Company owned by Ernest W. Marland. His first oil strike came in 1911 with the opening of the “Willie Cries” well in Oklahoma. He was early on the scene in Borger and was active in Hutchinson County prior to the 1926 boom. By 1927 there were 550 Marland Service Stations in eleven states. The Marland Camp in Borger was a wide street with a row of nice small houses on either side. The typical “Shotgun” houses were not found here.

     In the early years of his company Marland often slept on the rig floor, lived in his clothes and boots, and ate at the rigs. He was the first to bring seismograph operations to the United States and the first to use core drilling techniques. With his retirement as president in 1928, the company merged with Conoco.


Ernest W. Marland

Image courtesy of Oklahoma Department of Libraries,
100 Years of Oklahoma Governors.