Gillette, Wyoming

Gillette sits in the heart of an area of huge coal mines, with extensive oil well development and coalbed methane extraction also happening. For those reasons, Gillette bills itself as the "Energy Capital of the Nation." This is the Powder River Basin, a major geological and drainage area between the Bighorn Mountains on the west and the Black Hills on the east. The countryside is primarily a high altitude, semi-arid grassland. There is a lot of cattle ranching and hay farming going on but the real money around here is in energy production...