1. The Teapot Dome Scandal
• In the early part of the 20th century large oil reserves
were discovered in Elk Hills, California and Teapot
Dome, Wyoming.
Rocky Mountain Oilfield Testing Center on the Teapot Dome
Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 3 near Midwest, Wyoming.

2. • In 1912 President William Taft
decided that the government owned
the land and its oil reserves should
be set aside for the use of the
United States Navy.
• On June 4th, 1920, Congress passed a bill that stated that the
Secretary of the Navy would have the power "to conserve,
develop, use and operate the same in his discretion, directly or
by contract, lease, or otherwise, and to use, store, exchange, or
sell the oil and gas products thereof, and those from all
royalty oil from lands in the naval reserves, for the benefit
of the United States."

3. Elk Hills,
California
1912
U.S. NAVY
O I LTeapot Dome,
Wyoming
Property of
U.S. NAVY
The oil reserves of
Teapot Dome,
Wyoming, and Elk
Hills, California
shall be for US
Naval use only.
President William H. Taft

4. • In March of 1921, President Warren Harding appointed
Albert Fall as Secretary of the Interior.
Pres. Warren Harding Secretary of the
Interior Albert Fall

5. Secretary of the
Interior Albert Fall
Harry
Sinclair
(Mammoth
Oil Corp.)
Edward L.
Doheny (Pan-
American
Petroleum)
Yo, Albert buddy! How
about letting Edward
and I drill for oil in Elk
Hills and Teapot
Dome!
But that’s
Naval
property! You
can’t drill
there!
Maybe $100,000
would help you change
your mind!
Why didn’t
you say so, Ed?
You’ve got a
deal!

6. I appoint Albert Fall
to be the Secretary
of the Interior.
PresidentWarrenG. Harding
Psssssst. Albert,
Take this.Ooh la la!
A hundred
thousand
dollars!
Why thank you
very much Harry
Sinclair of the
Mammoth Oil
Corp and Edward
Doheny of Pan
American
Petroleum.

7. • Later that year Fall decided that two of his friends, Harry F.
Sinclair (Mammoth Oil Corporation) and Edward L. Doheny
(Pan-American Petroleum and Transport Company), should be
allowed to lease part of these Naval Reserves.
• In 1923, Harding
died of a heart attack.
Vice-President Calvin
Coolidge took over.

8. Elk Hills,
California
Teapot Dome,
Oil reserved
for
U.S. NAVY
1921
U.S. NAVY
O I L
Hey, the bribe
worked, Harry. Our
buddy Albert let us
lease Naval
reserves and drill
for oil.
Sssssweet Ed!

9. • In 1927, Fall was found guilty of accepting a $100,000 bribe
from Doheny. He was forced to resign from office and spent
one year in jail.
• The land was naval property, and should not have been
leased to private oil companies.

10. Except
I’m in jail!
1927