I arrived in Towner, ND on July 28. My good friend of 20 years and retired Towner resident Larry Piatz met me at my new camp along with Bruce, the electrician, John Rognlien, owner of the east 5200 acres of the Leach ranch and Donny, neighbor and rancher who devised an intriguing method of "washing in" a twenty foot well in under 10 minutes.
While I unloaded dogs and horses Bruce hooked me up to the electricity that I had brought into the property and John and Donny started the well. Quicker than it takes to tell about it I had a nice 30 amp RV service outlet and a well with cold sweet water. In the meantime Ray Dohse set up his camp about 200 feet to the west of me in the same grove of trees.
With the dogs fed and put up Ray and I went in to the Rafter Bar for an hour of relaxation and a cold beer.
Fortunately the trip out this year was uneventful, weather was cool for the three days on the road and I had no trouble finding overnight way points. Ray, leaving from Wrightsville, GA and me leaving from Orange, VA actually crossed paths within 5 minutes in Minneapolis so we traveled together the last day.
I had driven out to North Dakota in June to consummate a real estate deal that was in the works since early Spring.The Leach Ranch, originally 10,000 acres was the grounds that some of the American Field trialers trained on. Changing hands twice John Rognlien purchased the 5200 acres east of Hwy 14 where all the field trials were held in the 60's, 70's, and 80's. 5200 acres is 8 sections, a section being 1 mile square. The Rognlien spread is 2 miles north to south and 4 miles east to west. I have purchased the southwest corner (undisclosed acreage since asking how much acreage a man owns is akin to asking how big.....oh never mind). The Rognlien family are great people. John and Maxine have four great kids,
James and Jared work on oil rigs and then come home every two weeks to help their dad ranch. Elliot and Emma are both in high school. Elliot is a gear head so we get along great.
John, an ex saddle bronc rider of some acclaim has given me carte blanc to run dogs any where on the ranch. This is paradise.
Dave
which was considered the first significant oil producing well in North Dakota. By 1957 his company was listed on the New York Stock exchange and he and his partners held 4 million acres under lease, the largest operator in North Dakota. Thomas passed in 1966 but is still considered "The Father Of Oil In North Dakota."
