There’s Oil In Them Hills: Part One
The first oil development in Bragg Creek began in 1913: the site was on the Elbow River, now the Provincial Park (SE 11 23- 5W5). This was the Mowbray-Berkeley oil well, which was financed by British capital. Drilling equipment was hauled from Calgary; a wooden derrick, cookhouse and a line of bunkhouses were built; and teams of horses were housed in a large circus-type tent. By 1914, the well was operating, and coal was hauled by team and wagon from Dr. Ings’ mine at Canyon Creek. The Mowbray-Berkeley operated for about three years, but as World War I continued, capital dried up and the well was capped and abandoned.
Between 1914 and 1918, several oil companies hauled equipment into the area, but didn’t do much beyond derrick-building. One site was on Stanley Fullerton’s homestead cabin (Highways 66 and 758) and the other on the riverbank on River Drive South in the hamlet. The 1920s saw increased activity and a group of Calgary promoters sold stocks to raise monies to start drilling another well, Signal Hill. This drilling location, north and west of what is now Wintergreen, was prompted by the discovery of gas in a small spring, enough to light a flare from the gas gushing from the water. Most of the hauling was done via Jumping Pound, but in the winter months, supplies were taken by sleigh or wagon from Circle Five Ranch along the old Stoney Trail. Many challenges plagued this well: the field operator, Sam Fee, died of pneumonia from walking to and from the Circle Five in knee-high snow water and money was continually running out. Hole No. 2 was drilled, but it also had financial problems and was abandoned.
By 1928, interest re-appeared in the development of the Elbow Oil Company, using land belonging to the Connop family, just east of the gate to Kananaskis. Finances came from the Phillip Morris Tobacco Company and a drilling crew was recruited from Turner Valley. Its progress looked promising, but with the Great Depression setting in at the end of 1929, the well closed. Elbow Oils resumed drilling in 1936 and Jake Fullerton supplied fire-killed timber stumpage from the forest reserve, cut into 16- foot lengths to fit the boiler. Two men were required full-time to pump water for the well from the Elbow through almost a mile of pipe. This well was closed in 1937, then after many years, abandoned permanently.
Also, in 1928–1929, two more wells began drilling in the forestry reserve. Herron Petroleum, under veteran oilman W.S. Herron Sr., drilled the Herron Pete well on the flats between the Ranger Station and Elbow Falls. Moose Dome Oils 1, under management of the Pilling family, drilled near Canyon Creek, where a road was constructed along the creek bed. Both wells were fueled by their own natural gas. The biggest problem for all the wells was the poor road conditions. The route from Calgary to Bragg Creek was still dirt, not much more than wagon trails meandering through the bush. Heavy loads made the road conditions worse, and soon, nearby landowners took legal action to get the oil companies to take responsibility. The companies joined forces, eliminated the sharp turns and constructed a corduroy road (tree trunks laid over swampy areas) through the Provincial Park.
None of these oil companies ever publicly divulged to what depth they drilled or what they found beneath, but it was no secret that Herron and Moose Dome both hit hydrogen sulfide gas; the sour gas could be smelled miles away.
Watch for Part 2 in the next edition of the High Country News and learn more about drilling activity from 1930 and how Paddy’s Flats was named.
Michele McDonald
Sources: Schedule of Wells Drilled for Oil and Gas. The Petroleum & Natural Gas Conservation Board, (AER) Province of Alberta; 1975; www.aer.ca/providing- information/data-and-reports/maps-mapviewers; Purmal, Freda, Early Oil Wells, Our Foothills. Freissen, Manitoba, 1975; Cassidy, Crystal: Interview, December 2018; Jim Craig: Bragg Creek Notes & Interview, 2017; Anton, Colin: Shell Canada; Interview, Dec. 2018; Lloyd, Eric: Interview, January 2019; Moggert, Ron: Interview, September2019. https://www.shell.ca/en_ca/media/news-and-media- releases/news-releases-2019/shell-sells-foothills-sour-gas- assets-to-pieridae-energy-limited.html;
