| During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the petroleum industry was booming and rapidly developing into an multinational pursuit. From Pennsylvania, to California, to Indonesia, and the Middle East drillers were frantically looking for more oil to feed an ever expanding market. Often living in "primitive" conditions many oilmen spent their entire lives living, working, and dying in the oil fields. One such oil field active during this period was the Sespe in Ventura, California. At the edge of the Sespe Oil Field is a small location known as Squaw Flat. From the 1910's to the 1940's men lived and worked at Squaw Flat searching for oil. This paper presents the results of the archaeological investigation of Squaw Flat. Approaching this location from a landscape perspective, this research focuses on how the land was used for both industrial and domestic activities. |
