First well

On August 9, 1949, the first successful oil well in western Nebraska was established, effectively ending 60 years of unsuccessful searching and continuing the drive for mineral resources in Cheyenne County.

According the Nebraska State Historical Society, Marathon Oil Company completed the discovery, known as Mary Egging #1, located five miles southeast of the town of Gurley.

A historical marker on U.S. 385 between Sidney and Gurley reports that interest for oil in western Nebraska first occurred in 1889, near Crawford, in the northwest corner of the Panhandle.

"The first recorded drilling ope...