February 21, 2018

When teenagers move to the Bakken

When teenagers move to the Bakken

By Betsy Ryan
Farmer Staff Writer

At 16 and 17 years old, childhood sweethearts Savanna and Justin Ralston knew that they needed to leave home if they were ever going to rise above a life of financial struggle, drugs and broken families.
In 2013, not yet married, the two teenagers drove away from Gulfshores, Ala., with $150 and hope that the stories about jobs in the Bakken were true.
“We spent $90 on gas, so by the time we rolled into Watford City on that cold December night, we had $60 left,” said Savanna.
The two slept for five hours at the home of a friend of Justin’s mother and then woke up and started job hunting.

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WATFORD CITY WEATHER