In Trace of TF: A Montana Hunter's Journey by Dan Aadland -- A Bit of Nature in the Bakken

Update

See comment below: for book lovers, a great site to find books.

Original Post

In 2002 I started an aggressive reading program. I had not "read" since my days in college. But for very private reasons I started reading with a vengeance in 2002.

I generally buy only used books, seldom paying full price. I now have a very nice library. The subject matter is not particularly important as long as it is "good" writing.  My attention span is such that it's difficult for me to read just one book at time; generally I have about four going, reading a few pages of each now and than, and eventually getting through them. I am not so worried about finishing a book; I simply enjoy reading "good" writing.

The four books on my bed or desk or couch right now are a) The Great Sea, by David Abulafia; b) Plains Folk: North Dakota's Ethnic History, by William Sherman; c) The Lakotas and the Black Hills, by Jeffrey Ostler; and, d) In Trace of TR: A Montana Hunter's Journey, by Dan Aadland.

In San Antonio my favorite bookstore is Half-Price Bookstore, a discount book store of used books. But in Williston, my favorite bookstore, and one of my favorite stores overall is Books on Broadway. And, yes, all four books above I bought at Books on Broadway. I have two copies of Plains Folks; my first copy is at home in San Antonio, but I enjoy it so much, I bought another copy so I could read it while visiting the Bakken.

I have just started reading Dan Aadland's book. Wow, it is awesome. Again, it is simply great writing; even if one does not get excited about the title or the subject matter, the writing is so good, one will enjoy reading it just for the sake of reading.

I'm not sure I would have enjoyed it three months ago, but now after being back in the Bakken for about that length of time, the book really hits home.

The author raises horses in south-central Montana. This is his third book (at least according to the jacket). Like Theodore Roosevelt, Aadland is a hunter on horseback and he is at home in Roosevelt's  North Dakota world. It is so much fun reading the words that are used out here to describe nature. I think my favorite phrase so far (I have not gotten very far in the book) is "mudded out." A driver and his pickup truck are "mudded out" during or shortly after a bit of rain that turns the clay to gumbo, and it's impossible for the truck to move. It does not bother him; in fact, he prepared for it, and he and his wife simply camp out in the nosecone of their gooseneck trailer (in which they are hauling horses) until the roads dry out.

I think out-of-state truckers, after about six months in the Bakken, would find this book very pleasing.

Harold Hamm on Bloomberg -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Bloomberg television: Harold Hamm on the Bakken

• Reiterates 24 billion bbls technically recoverable bbls of oil equivalent
• Despite possibility of additional Three Forks payzone, reluctant to go beyond 24 billion bbls
• Estimates 48,000 wells needed to drill out the Bakken

A big "thank you" to Gregg for alerting me to the video.

MDU To Lay New Pipeline To Feed Previously-Announced New NG Plant Near Mandan, North Dakota

Link here.

Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. intends to build a 24-mile natural gas pipeline to fuel a proposed 88-megawatt natural gas-fired power plant near the company’s Heskett Generating Station.

MDU announced in July plans to build an $85.6 million natural gas-fired power plant next to its coal-fired plant to meet capacity requirements following the failure of the planned Big Stone II coal plant in South Dakota in 2009. If approved, the new plant could be in use by the beginning of 2015.

Data points:

• $18.4 million
• Pipeline construction to begin mid 2013; complete by end of same year

Week 45: November 5 -- November 11, 2011

Quickpits

Burke Lodge -- 110-unit man-camp opens, Williston, ND

Three notable wells reported in past ten days: Charlotte, Tarpon, and Hagen

Whiting to build operations center in Watford City; Power Fuels doing same

Missouri Basin Well Service to build headquarters in Watford City

Alaska's Cruz Company to come to Williston

Petro-Hunt with cluster of six wells in Four Bears

Bakken boom spurring building boom in Bismarck

Browser and the Website -- milliondollarway

Elsewhere someone has mentioned that they are having trouble viewing "milliondollarway.blogspot.com."

That's the second time someone has brought this issue to my attention.

This blog uses the "blogger" application which is now supported by "Chrome" (Google).

I don't yet have "Chrome" but have no trouble with the website on Firefox, Windows 7 Internet Explorer, or Safari. I haven't checked Safari in about three months, so don't know for sure about Safari right now. This site is optimized for Firefox; it is a breeze to edit and post. It is very challenging to edit and post using Windows 7 Internet Explorer, but I am not aware of any problems viewing it on that browser.

I never have problems viewing my site whenever I visit an Apple store. I used to have problems using an old Windows Internet Explorer browser when passing through the Harvard Business School. I have no problems with Windows 7 Internet Explorer for viewing, as noted above.

My page views are running about 4,000/day, I think, and I have had two comments about difficulties with the site: one comment came directly to my e-mail; the second comment arrived at the best site in the world for Bakken mineral owners, the Bakken Shale Discussion Group (same link as above). The best part about their site is that they minimize all political comment, something I have great difficulty doing.

I don't own any mineral rights whereas most of the folks who post on the BSDG do own minerals. In addition, they are all very, very helpful. I generally direct folks who ask me specific questions about mineral rights to also visit the BSDG. 

Without question, though, the best experience for surfing the net is on the large Apple monitors/Apple computers. The blogs -- not just mine, but all of them are crystal clear. And someday when I win the lottery I will a) buy a car; and b) buy a bigger Apple computer.