Train Station, Williston, ND

Waiting for the train, Williston ND

Chase, a Roughneck, has a 2 week old baby at home in Montana.  

Laying road, downtown Williston. Crews work 24/7 building new roads to meet the demands of the oil boom.

Angelica, an exotic dancer from Minnesota, in the dressing room at Heartbreakers nightclub

Erika, from New Jersey, prepares to take the dance floor at Heartbreakers nightclub

Heartbreakers night club

Elena, next day

Elena's real face

stay a night, stay a year

Demand exceeds supply in the produce section of Williston's Walmart - one of the busiest in the country

Shelves stripped bare in the produce section of the Williston Walmart - one of the busiest in the country

shelves emptied in one of the busiest Walmart's in the country

shelves emptied in one of the busiest Walmart's in the country

After long shifts, workers blow off steam at DK's night club

blackjack table, Doc Holidays, Williston ND

Workers bunk 5 to a room for two weeks at a time on the drill sites

oil worker on an Ensign drilling platform north of Williston

Riley came from Nebraska, with her grandmother and great grandmother, to visit her father - a truck driver in the Bakken

Most workers who come to the Bakken leave their families behind, but a few try to make a life with them in the chaotic/volatile boomtown

Tearful goodbye. Working in the Bakken often means weeks if not months of not seeing your family

Him: "I couldn't take it no more."  Her: "I had to be here."  She came in from Ohio, a 34 hour train ride.

new arrival, from New York City! 

Paris came from Soldotna, Alaska to be with her boyfriend. She works cleaning the new Motel 6, which is at capacity almost every night of the week and costs about $110 per night

Ron, an oil service technician from Idaho and Vietnam Vet, in the 12 by 15 room in a converted shipping container that serves as his home

Accents from every state in the union can be heard as workers pour off the train each day

traffic and half-made roads, Williston ND

Larry Pryor, a General Motors retiree from Michigan, had to return to work after losing all his savings in the GM crash

row houses await new tenants, Williston ND

Carter, a drilling site maintenance worker, in the 12 by 15 shipping container that serves as his home away from home

Ron, maintenance man from Idaho, outside the converted shipping container that serves as his living quarters in the Bakken

Ron and Carter, oil service technicians, outside the shared converted shipping container that serves as their home, Williston ND

Ron and Carter, oil service technicians, in their 12 by 15 living quarters, a converted shipping container

Ron, oil service technician from Idaho, smokes a cigarette outside the converted shipping container that serves as his home away home

Ron, oil service technician from Idaho, smokes a cigarette outside the converted shipping container that serves as his home away home

Ron, oil service technician from Idaho, outside the converted shipping container that serves as his home in the Bakken