Teapot Dome Rock near the Midwest

Recently, President Biden has approved the removal of oil from strategic oil reserves to lower US gas prices. At the beginning of the 20th century, the US Navy obtained most of its fuel oil from coal. President Taft has designated several oil-producing areas as the Navy’s oil reserves to ensure that the Navy always has sufficient fuel. The first is the Teapot Dome scandal, named after a rare rock formation near Midwest, Wyoming.

In April 1922, the Watergate scandal rocked Washington and was the biggest scandal to have roots in Wyoming. The Teapot Dome scandal was a bribe under the Warren G. Harding administration from 1921 to 1923. At that time, Secretary of the Interior Albert Baconfort was leasing Navy oil and Salt Creek oil fields near Teapot Dome. He also leased oil from California’s reserves to a private oil company without competitive bidding.

In 1921, President Harding ordered the transfer of field control from the Ministry of the Navy to the Ministry of the Interior. Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall persuaded Secretary of the Navy Edwin C. Denby to transfer this control.

When control was passed to the Interior Ministry, Fall was caught up in an oil leasing scandal and he became rich. An investigation by the US Senate in 1924 revealed that the Secretary of the Interior received a large bribe from private oil interests. In 1929, Fall was sentenced to nine months in prison.

Laramie Republicans and Laramie Boomerang, December 27, 1923:

Former Secretary Autumn used cash borrowed from his ranch: Washington, Washington, December 27, A. Albert B. Fall, Former Secretary of State A. Albert B. Fall’s detailed statement on real estate and cattle investment is in the Senate Public Land Commission today. A letter to Mr Fall by Washington publisher EB McLean, submitted and proclaiming that the $ 100,000 loan has been accelerated, has allowed him to purchase additional ranch property in New Mexico in recent years. bottom. Funding source. Former secretaries expanded the establishment of New Mexico, witnesses testified in a Senate investigation into the loss of Teapot Dome oil reserves to Harry F. Sinclair when Mr. Fall was at the top. As a result, it was sought by the Commission. Interior department. Details must be provided.. Washington, December 27th. — Overturning the protests of Harry F. Sinclair, an oil operator and owner of a lease to Wyoming’s Navy oil reserves, the Senate Public Land Commission today demands that he provide details of all transactions in the stock. I resolved that. A company formed in connection with the leasing and operation of syndicates organized to sell such shares. Much of the information the Commission asked was previously provided by Witnesses, and his refusal to answer was limited to questions related to the activities of his peers. The Commission divided the motion to force Mr. Sinclair into a four-to-three split, with Senators Renroute, Wisconshon, Smoot, Utah, and Cameron, Argyzona, Republicans, and Senators Walsh and Montana. Wyoming Kendrick, Colorado Adams, Democrats, and North Dakota Republican Rudd voted in favor. Sinclair opposes “production in the investigation of these business relationships and the delicate and complex operations that make up the majority of all businesses,” and asserts how Hiba considered its large stake. Did. Of the Mammoth Oil Company’s stock, their stock was considered by members of the Mammoth Syndicate who oversaw Joseph L. Livermore’s efforts to “create a market” for mammoth oil. “These are private private transactions and have nothing to do with this investigation,” Sinclair said. Among the large investors in Mammoth Syndicate was HP Whitney, which was stated to hold 155,000 shares. Senator Walsh announced that he would request a subpoena from Mr Whitney when witnesses refused to say that the amount paid for this block, or the disposition of revenue, had been made. Mr. Sinclair is substantially required by the Commission in connection with the complex procedure that the mammoth shares issued to him are transferred to Hiba and then mostly handed over to Syndicate for use in the production. The market offered to provide all the data to the market, which will only be repurchased later by witnesses.

Cheyenne, Tribune, Wyoming April 23, 1922

Secretary of State William E. Chaplin received a Washington-dated telegram from Congressman Frank V. Mondel yesterday outlining the federal government’s policy on drainage of the Teapot Dome Navy Reserve in Wyoming. Edward C Finney’s message from Deputy Secretary of State Mondel to Mondel responded to Chaplin’s inquiry about the government’s Teapot Dome project.

Telegram to seconds. Chaplin said: “In response to my letter on April 17, when I inquired about the situation in Navel Reserve No. 3 (Teapot Dome, Wyoming), I received the following letter from Deputy Secretary-General Finney: Inquiries about the status of Navy Reserve No. 3 on the 17th. Wyoming. We are honored to announce that the contract was signed on April 7, 1922. Secretary of the Interior and Secretary of the Navy say “Mammoth Oil Company” I signed a contract. .. The deal is in the form of a lease of the area within the Navy Reserve, which he said, with a gradual royalty of “up to 50 percent.” Quality and quantity of production. The contract provides for the excavation of numerous wells to build a pipeline from the field to the existing pipeline in Missouri, so the field will contact and replace points on the Atlantic coast and the Gulf of Mexico. It will be possible. For the delivery of crude fuel oil for the Navy and Navy-designated fuel oil at designated points on the Atlantic coast. …. As you know, crude oil is not suitable for use by the Navy as an unrefined fuel and must be placed in the form of fuel oil before it can be used for storage and use in the Navy. there is. Experts say that storing fuel oil in a suitable tank causes little loss due to evaporation … The Ministry of the Navy and the Ministry of the Interior have worked closely together to secure fuel oil reserves for the Navy, rather than selling oil for the purpose for which reserves were created: commercial or other purposes. .. Purpose. (Signed) EDWARD C, Deputy Secretary General FINNEY

Senator John B. Kendrick, who lived around Sheridan, ran a ranch, and built a Trails End Mansion, allegedly began investigating the Teapot Dome scandal.

The Rawlins Republican’s May 18, 1922 article mentions Kendrick’s name.

The Political TEmpest over Teapot DA few (Wheatland Times) There has been a lot of discussion about high in the last few weeks. -The lease of the Navy oil reserve, known as the Teapot Dome, adjacent to Salt Creek Field, was negotiated by the Secretary of the Interior for the benefit of Sinclair Oil. Interior and Secretary of the Navy. Democratic newspapers and officials have accused all sorts of crafts, favors, and dishonesty in connection with the deal, and Senator Kendrick immediately introduced a resolution in the Senate calling for an investigation of alleged anger. Did. Immediately after the anger began, one of our democratic friends asked us why the Times didn’t say anything about the Teapot Dome scandal. At that time, he replied that we did not have enough information on the subject to form an opinion.

Since then, we’ve read a lot of criticism, mostly prejudiced, and have a copy of the brief to President Harding by Deputy Secretary of the Interior Edward C. Finney and Secretary of the Navy Edwin Denby. I am. The deal is wise and likely to bring significant profits to the state, and the Wyoming monopoly, where greedy operations are effectively checked, is tentative, causing stormy criticism and criticism. I came to a good conclusion. Sinclair people under the government lease of Teapot Dome.

Senator Kendrick’s resolution was unanimously passed by the Senate.DepartureThe Inland Navy and President Harding welcomed the full investigation. Their attitude towards the investigation underscores their position that the contract is good from a federal point of view. State, and independent producers.

The scandal was big news from 1922 to 1924. Independent Democratic Paper Cheyenne, June 22, 1922, in Wyoming Ledger.

The Teapot DA few The more scandal Will be aired on Wahse odor It is doubtful that either administration has canceled a deal that has been so commonly criticized that Denby and Fall’s secretaries lend Teapot Dome to Harry Sinclair. I’m trying to trim many Republican papers to make them look good for Wyoming. But that’s a difficult task they assigned to them. It’s hard to convince anyone that if the deal was okay, it would have had to exercise the secrets used. Congress has appointed a committee to investigate the transaction, and if the actual investigation is done, he will feel that several officers are being asked to resign at high altitude. Investigations conducted so far by Press Stamp are attempts by Wall to whiten himself and Denby very vividly, disproving his claim that they had no secrets on the matter. .. Parliamentarian Mondel’s attempt to carry out the wonderful juggling feat of carrying water on his shoulders shows him in a very ridiculous role. He has not proved to anyone that the deal is honest. And he can’t convince your people of this condition and he’s really trying to investigate the problem.

In fact, prominent men in all cities have accused him of being vulnerable.

Many of the articles defended stakeholders, such as this article from The Sheridan Enterprise on May 10, 1922.

Republicans sooner or later rushed to defend the Harding administration as soon as they saw growing anger in the Teapot Dome scandal. The WR Weeks of Lander is working hard to whiten the administration. But he only confused the problem. He claims that the administration protected only schools in the states doing this secret transaction. But he doesn’t explain why the school wasn’t protected if the government complied with the law permitting renting. There were several oil companies that would have paid as much or more than Sinclair’s stakeholders would have paid, in which case there was no reason for the ongoing fraudulent charges.

The Democratic Party used a scandal to win candidate votes on November 2, 1922, following this ad in Cheyenne’s Wyoming Democratic Party.

Mondel blames his position in the Teapot Dome scandal

The Teapot Dome lease to Mammoth Oil Company was signed, sealed and delivered on April 7, 1922. ‘Association:

Can Mr. Mondel or other Republicans explain why he expected “no measures to detain the sector” after more than a week after the lease was signed? Can you explain why, more than a week after Secretary Denby signed the lease, the official was “not completely clear what the commitment would have been if it had been”? Can Wyoming voters secretly lease one of their largest oil fields and then put their trust in officials who deny representatives that the lease was made? Vote for Kendrick, Ross, Rose Democratic National Commission. (Political advertisement)

Teapot Dome Scandal: A political scandal that extended to Midwest, Wyoming, involved Sheridan’s own John B. Kendrick, who began investigating corruption.