Before white men came to the area, North Caddo was the rich forestland of the Kadohadacho, or Caddo, Indians. In 1904, the first oil well in North Louisiana was drilled. The resulting Oil Rush brought hysteria to the once peaceful and serene hunting grounds of the Caddo Indians. Oil City became the first boomtown in the Ark-La-Tex region. In May 1911, Ferry Lake No. 1 was drilled in the Caddo Lake bed and was one of the few over-water oil wells in the world. Today, Oil City is a Louisiana historical site featuring three historic boomtown buildings and numerous outdoor exhibits. Across the street from the city's old Kansas City Southern Railroad Depot, now a museum, is the new 12,000 square foot Louisiana State Oil and Gas Museum. A division of the Secretary of State's Museum Program, the Louisiana State Oil and Museum is locally governed by the Caddo-Pine Island Oil and Historical Society.