Historical Marker
Hogback
Waterflow, San Juan County · New Mexico
New Mexico's oil industry began in the upturned beds this panel describes. Midwest Refining Company completed the Hogback No. 1 on the Navajo reservation on September 25, 1922, the state's first commercial oil well, flowing 375 barrels a day, and drilled eleven more to make the Hogback field. The leases shaped Navajo government as well: a three-member Navajo Tribal Business Council, first convened on January 26, 1922, was set up chiefly to approve oil leases, and in 1923 it extended Midwest's Hogback lease from five years to ten.
What the plaque says
Official Scenic Historic Marker Hogback Steeply dipping strata define the western edge of the San Juan basin. To the west older geologic formations are exposed toward the Defiance uplift whereas basinward they are downwarped thousands of feet beneath younger rock units. Vast coal, uranium, oil and gas resources occur in the strata buried within the basin. Elevation 5,050 feet.
Where it stands
36.75483, -108.52327 · Directions
More markers nearby
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