The article is devoted to the initial period of developing commercial oil reserves of the Ural-Emba region in the 1910s-1920s, which was connected with the work of the expedition of the same name. The aim of the study is to study the lifestyle and hobby of the local population, the first oil producers of the Kazakh region. Among the methods of research there are biographical, historical-geological (interdisciplinary), ethnographic and historical. The novelty lies in revealing the contribution of oil industry workers to the development of the Dossori park. The author shows consolidated ascetic work of scientific personnel (geologists, soil scientists), aimed at changing the living conditions of Dossor oil workers.