Posted on 10/03/2012 4:58:27 PM PDT by Sub-Driver
In North Dakota, hard to tell an oil millionaire from regular Joe By David Bailey | Reuters – 4 hrs ago
STANLEY, North Dakota (Reuters) - The retired men shooting the breeze at Joyce's Cafe in Stanley don't look like oil barons but appearances can be deceptive, especially in North Dakota.
Take Robert Western, a farmer who was dressed in rumpled overalls and a baseball cap as he sipped coffee and discussed the oil boom that has transformed this once sleepy town.
"Some of the younger people buy a lot more - machinery, vehicles, things like that," said the 75-year-old Western. "The rest of us, I guess it doesn't alter our lifestyle a great deal. I don't have a lot of needs."
After he left, his friend Earl Rogstad remarked to a visitor: "It's too bad Robert didn't have his airplane ready... He offered last summer to fly me over and see (the oil wells) from the air."
Western did not mention that he is co-owner of a Piper single engine propeller plane, according to FAA records. He did admit to receiving oil royalties from wells on his farm but locals said he is far from the richest man in town. It is not clear whether Western is a millionaire or merely wealthy.
"You can't tell the average Joe farmer from the average Joe millionaire," said Ward Heidbreder, Stanley city coordinator.
Average income in Mountrail County, the hub of the North Dakota oil production boom, roughly doubled in five years to $52,027 per person in 2010, ranking it in the richest 100 U.S. counties on that basis including New York City, and Marin, California.
The boom could be creating up to 2,000 millionaires a year in North Dakota...
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
both my wifes family and mine have been getting royalties off land in Texas for several generations.
I think that's great, and I'm happy for you, because it flows out of property rights. I'd want my descendants to profit from any clever or lucky decisions I made in my lifetime. But, I have to ask, from a jealous, government dependent's point of view, how different is that from his entitlement?
I hate the stupid American petroleum industry...creating all that wealth and all those jobs. Those oil people suck, making ordinary folks rich like that. (Insert sarcasm tag here.)
If I were single I would have headed there a long while back.
We do OK here though.
All of whom undoubtedly don’t pay their “fairrr sharrre”....
” - - - and all of the disparaging remarks and jokes - - “
In my very early years I did not like some of the remarks some people made about ND, several years back, a major map maker even left ND out of their US atlas.
Then it dawned on me, it’s what kept our quality of life a little better (in my opinion), as those who knocked the state just kept on going elsewhere and kept the place from becoming Kalifornicated.
So when someone made remarks that ND sucked, I would agree and encourage them to tell their friends. Additionally, 40 below does keep out rif-raf too.
Regarding the newcomers the oil industry is bringing in, the vast majority are just people that want to earn a living and appear to be conservative.
“that he is co-owner of a Piper single engine propeller plane”
Only in liberal la la land are you wealthy if you own a stake in a Piper single engine plane. And, unlike liberals, I would offer these people a hearty congratulations on their success.
This might fit in. My first wife's brother spent some time in Montana. We were talking about ethnic jokes, and he told me that in Montana, aside from the Indians, everyone was pretty much the same. So, since they had to have someone to dump on, they made North Dakotan jokes.
I laughed and took it as a comment on the human condition.
I ran into an old USAF buddy a few weeks ago at a meeting. From our time together back in 90’s I remembered he and his wife were from Williston. I hadn’t seen him in some years and when we met I asked him if he still had any property there. A huge grin came across his face as he explained how many wells he had on his property, and yes he maintained mineral rights. Additionally he had kept property in town that was worth millions alone. My first thought as I quickly did the math in my head was I was talking to the wealthiest man I know. My second thought was that this could not have happened to a nicer guy and his family. We went to lunch and he suggested the cheapest venue on the block. He probably drives his old beat up pick up truck still.
That’s just the way it is in this part of our country. It’s hard to tell the difference between a multi-millionaire and a day laborer. I believe it speaks well for the character of these hardy, independant westerners. Just one of the many reasons we live here.
My best friend in small town Newcastle, Wy. was one of those super wealthy individuals. I had a Scout Troop at one time. She bought one box of Thin Mints for $10,000. But she wore very holey Keds tennis shoes, a very ancient Univ. of Wyo sweatshirt, and patched Wrangler Jeans. She spent nearly nothing on herself, but was the most generous person I ever knew. She died not too long ago and I miss her small town wisdom every day.
I was born and raised in North Dakota. It looks like I left a little too soon.
I know! I had to cash a check for $47.00 a month ago from some slick oil company man that just wanted to take a few soil samples from our land up in North Dakota, would have been more if the land rights werent split 16 ways.
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