The company was founded by Ernest Whitworth Marland (1874–1941) and was based in Ponca City, Oklahoma.

By 1922 nearly 600 Marland stations were found in 11 mid-continent states, from North Dakota to Oklahoma and as far east as Indiana.

With this in mind, Marland management began to look around for a partner, a company with complementary assets, an operation that would perhaps consider a merger.

A merger with Continental would facilitate the Baltimore facility to supply Continental's existing Mid-Atlantic marketing efforts, allowing for substantial growth in the number of retail service stations and the increased cash flow related to that increase in sales.

On June 26, 1929 the merger was approved, and it acquired for a consideration of 2,317,266 shares of stock, the assets (subject to liabilities) of Continental Oil Company.