Viewed from behind the machinery, the pumpjack overlooks a sweeping stretch of North Dakota badlands. Its rusted gears and faded paint contrast sharply with the vivid red earth and green hills—a scene that captures both the rugged beauty and industrial imprint of the oil fields.

Sunlight glints off the rusted steel of a working pumpjack, its rhythmic motion cutting through the quiet plains air. Shot from below, the towering machine looms against the sky—a reminder of the human industry that continues to shape the remote oil fields of the American West.

A weathered pumpjack rises from the red clay of western North Dakota, slowly rocking under the midday sun. Once a quiet symbol of rural industry, it now stands as a reminder of the region’s deep ties to oil production and the changing energy landscape of the American Plains.

Juniper Campground at Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota.