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The oil boom: Making a living off the workers

Bobcat John runs his knife business, Bobcat's Blades, from a trailer in New Town, N.D.

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Bobcat got his name from owning a bobcat for many years.

Bobcat John now has a Canadian lynx. He still goes by the name Bobcat.

Gold rushes and oil booms set all sorts of people in motion, hoping to seize an opportunity, and the oil boom in North Dakota is no different.

Todd Melby is reporting a yearlong project, Black Gold Boom, from Williston, N.D. Marketplace is airing a series of his vignettes of people and scenes from Williston. Today, we hear from someone who picked up and followed the boom to North Dakota, one Bobcat John.

Black Gold Boom is an initiative of Localore and the Association of Independents in Radio.

About the author

Todd Melby is a North Dakota-based reporter covering the oil boom for public media project Black Gold Boom: How Oil Changed North Dakota.