No Oil in Alberta in 1913?
Dusty roads were more than a nuisance in Calgary in 1913. What to do? Dr. Stanley Mahood, the medical officer for health for Calgary, suggested the city spray petroleum on the dust in the interests of...
View ArticleExporting gas controversial in 1913
Pipe for the Bow Island to Calgary pipeline, 1913. Petroleum pipelines have always been controversial. More than a century ago, an irate businessman took the federal government to task when it...
View ArticleCars Did Not Rule Calgary Society in 1913
Road from Calgary to Banff, August 1913 With poor roads and few vehicles in Alberta, automobiles were a curiosity 100 years ago. Here are four stories from that time on the novel mode of conveyance....
View ArticlePlace Names Hint At A History of Flooding
Calgary, Alberta from the Bow River on the Canadian Pacific Railway (Item part of: Eva Davies collection) (Photo credit: Wikipedia) This catastrophe in southern Alberta is not, as it turns out,...
View ArticleDrilling for Oil Dragged on Forever
Josephine, Bob, Mary, Joe and Charlie Brown at living quarters at Turner Valley discovery well, c. 1913. The quest for oil in Alberta in the early 1900s was disappointing. Natural gas was easy to find....
View ArticleFamily Life on An Early Oil Drilling Rig
Josephine Brown at rig in 1914 Drillers Joe and Bob Brown were busy drilling 100 years ago, working 12-hour shifts on the Calgary Petroleum Products No. 1 well. It eventually discovered Western...
View ArticleBuilding A Wooden Oil Drilling Rig in 1913
Drillers on early wooden rig Before Alberta’s first oil discovery could happen, tough men built the rig and installed the equipment. Although imported as skilled American drillers, brothers Joseph and...
View ArticleArchie Dingman Made Famous by the Discovery Well
AW Dingman Calgary Petroleum Products Company was drilling a well 100 years ago, and it discovered Western Canada’s First Commercial Oilfield just southwest of Calgary on May 14, 1914. So why does...
View ArticleFloods Plagued Alberta’s Early Oil Patch
Oilmen’s shack in Turner Valley oilfield Tiny shacks fit with the lifestyle of the early oilman. Small enough to build quickly, light enough to load on the back of a flatbed truck and move to the next...
View ArticleEnergy Pipeline Story Started in Turner Valley
Turner Valley pipeline construction c. 1920s The energy pipeline story goes back more than 100 years in western Canada. An early pipeline began delivering natural gas to Calgary in 1912 from the Bow...
View ArticleFlaring A Thing of the Past in Alberta
Flares at pit called Hell’s Half Acre in Turner Valley Flaring $10 of natural gas to produce $1 of gasoline common in the late 1920s. Most producers in the Turner Valley oilfield had no access to...
View ArticleSnatching Out a Fire in the Oilfield
Royalite No. 4 well on fire Sometimes success is almost too good. In 1924 the drillers at the Royalite No. 4 well in Turner Valley nearly quit work on their deep well. All their hard work had failed to...
View ArticleProtecting Canada’s Oilfield During WWII
Gas Plant in the 1940s World War II drastically changed life in Western Canada’s First Commercial Oilfield. Able-bodied men signed up for the war effort, leaving labour shortages in the oil industry....
View ArticleGassed Eyes common in the early Alberta Oil Patch
Flares consumed vast quantities of dangerous gas Sour gas was a constant danger in western Canada’s first commercial oilfield. Toxic even at low concentrations, it was part of the workplace. The Turner...
View Article1927 Was Important for Alberta Oil
Royalite No. 4 well in 1924 The Royalite No. 4 discovery well in 1924 found a great new supply of sour natural gas and a massive amount of liquids. But it was not until three years later that the full...
View ArticleHealth Care in the Early Oil Industry
Flares burned sour gas in Turner Valley but much of the hydrogen sulphide was just vented to atmosphere Spring floods were common in Alberta’s first commercial oilfield at Turner Valley. Most residents...
View ArticleKid Play in the Oil Patch
The petroleum industry is more than just tough men. Kids wandered the oilfield too, having fun, making up games, and chasing the dogs and cats and each other. Fred McArthur was a young girl in the...
View ArticleSuccess in the Face of Failure
Prominent citizens of Calgary at 1914 Discovery Well in Turner Valley filling barrel with liquid from wet gas well Why do some project fail and others change society? Drillers struck smelly natural gas...
View ArticleAmericans in the Early Alberta Oil Patch
It took all kinds of people to development the oil patch. PAA 85-51 – 1&2 Many Americans helped develop western Canada’s first commercial oilfield. John Norman was young when he arrived in Canada...
View ArticleJob Factory in the Canadian West
Turner Valley Gas Plant When a Royalite Oil Company recruiter showed up in Winnipeg, Jim McInnis jumped at the chance. Previously a grain buyer, Jim moved to Turner Valley to escape the grain dust...
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