  Northern Alberta, according to the reports of travellers, geological explorers and prospectors, is a veritable storehouse of mineral wealth, its natural richness in this respect including gold, iron, coal, gypsum, salt, sulphur, galena, natural gas, petroleum, tar sands or asphaltum, etc. In his report of 1888, Mr. R. G. McConnell of the Geological Survey (See p. 18) states:—“Gold was found in many of the bars in Peace river, and in several places in sufficient quantities to deserve attention. Three miles above the mouth of Battle river, a large bar nearly a mile long on the left bank was examined, from which we obtained fifteen to twenty colours of fine gold, by washing a few handfuls of the mixed gravel and sand in an ordinary frying pan. We tried the bar at several points, and always with the same result. A small stream descends from the plateau on the opposite side of the river, and by leading its waters across the river, which is here about one thousand feet wide, the bar might be easily and inexpensively worked on a large scale. Twelve miles farther up the river, another bar was examined, which yielded from twenty to forty colours when washed in the same way. Numerous other bars occur in this portion of the river, which would probably give as good results as those examined. “The presence of fine gold in some quantities in the bars above the mouth of Battle river is probably due to the diminution in the strength of the Peace river current which takes place here, and its consequent loss of transporting power. The same fact is shown in the gradual substitution of sand bars for gravel bars which occur at the same point. “Besides the gold on Peace river, two colours were also washed out of a bar on Loon river, an eastern tributary of the Peace.” Mr. Alfred von Hamerstein, a German gentleman who has lived in the Athabaska country for many years, latterly devoting his attention wholly to prospecting for petroleum, was examined before the Senate committee of 1907 and explained that before beginning boring operations for oil, he had been engaged in gold mining in Athabaska and Peace river districts. He had inspected McLeod river at a place called Assiniboia. A half-breed took out one hundred and fifty dollars from a bar there. He himself Took Out Gold at a little bar right opposite the mouth of Lesser Slave river in the Athabaska. He worked it for part of two summers. He would take out enough to last him for the winter, and then quit. It is hard work. The Indians and natives have gold and diamonds on the brain. They had taken to him rocks containing very nice garnets, but they were very mysterious about them. Mr. von Hamerstein explained he had also worked for gold on Peace river. There is very good mining there, a little below Battle river, but the gold is so very fine that for every dollar you save there, about four and a half go away, and there are some peculiar things that no one can account for. After you have got it there is trouble with the quicksilver, which does not take up the gold. The method he adopted was to run the quicksilver, and then before running it over again, to roll it in acid. Before the Senate committee of 1888, Bishop Clut stated that in Peace river and Liard river, certainly there was gold in large quantities. On Peace river, twelve or thirteen years prior to 1888, miners made from fifteen dollars to twenty dollars a day washing, but in the winter and when the water was high they could not work, and they abandoned the mines. “If the country were settled,” the bishop remarked, “those mines might be worked to better advantage, because the miners could find other occupation in the winter and when the water was high.” According to Mr. von Hamerstein, at Black bay, on Lake Athabaska, there is first-class galena—none better. It carries gold, silver and copper. They assayed some of the product at Chipewyan, and found that it carried roughly about six dollars or seven dollars worth of gold, and some copper. There is a big seam near Black bay, and one can follow it up right along until it comes to an island. That is a very fine country for gold, and there have been several attempts to make something out of it, but the time is not ripe. Indications of Iron. Indications of the presence of iron have been found on Peace, Clearwater, and Athabaska rivers. A specimen rock from near Pelican rapids on Athabaska river contained 12.4% of metallic iron. J. B. Tyrrell found indications of iron in Churchill river district, and also north of Lake Athabaska. According to Mr. R. G. McConnell’s 1888 report:—Clay ironstone in nodules and thin beds, is of universal occurrence in the Cretaceous shales of the Peace region, but is especially abundant in some of the outcrops of the Fort St. John shales on Peace river, between Battle river and Smoky river. The ironstone, here, owing to the rapid erosion of the soft shales, has been silted out, and in many places forms thick accumulations at the foot of the cliffs lining the valley, some of which may prove to be of economic value. The Pelican sandstone on the Athabaska is usually capped with a bed of hemitiferous sandstone varying in thickness from a few inches to four or five feet. A specimen of the rock was examined in the laboratory of the Geological Survey, and found to contain 12·4 per cent. of metallic iron. Mr. von Hamerstein, in his evidence before the Senate committee of 1907, stated that there are indications of iron along Clearwater river. He found some very nice pieces of iron, and he found limestone in the centre of Athabaska. Once, in Peace river district, on the way from Lake Chipewyan, he found a deposit of red stone; he did not know whether it was ochre or hematite of iron. He had any amount of it, but upset with his canoe and lost it. A large amount of ochre is found on the eastern bank of the Athabaska, between Athabaska and Grand rapids. He had also observed what seemed to him a large amount of hematite of iron between Athabaska and the mouth of greater Slave river, while on Slave river itself, at a certain point, large bodies of magnetic ore are indicated by the action of the compass, which gets entirely out of order. Coal and Lignite. Mr. von Hamerstein informed the committee that there is a fine seam of coal at McKay, and went on to say that he had taken out, the season before his examination by the committee, about twenty tons, right on the river bank. There was a good quantity of bituminous coal, which could be used for common blacksmithing, but not for welding. Where exposed and worked, this seam goes down about five or six feet deep, and it seems to be getting larger. There is quite a bit of coal taken out every year by the people who live at Chipewyan. There is, according to Mr. von Hamerstein, another fine seam of coal at a little creek named Horse creek, which is about a mile and a half south from McMurray on the east side of Athabaska river. Coal may also be found in other places. There is a seam, for instance, about two miles below Stony island. W. F. Bredin, M.L.A., confirmed Mr. von Hamerstein’s evidence as to the deposits of coal near McKay, which is about twenty miles north of McMurray. In his report of 1888, describing his explorations the previous season, Mr. R. G. McConnell stated:— “Lignite was found in Peace river sandstone in Peace river in several places, but in seams too small to be workable. It also occurs in the plateaus south of Lesser Slave lake. In one section at the latter place, four seams, ranging in thickness from one to four feet, besides a number of smaller ones, was found, distributed through about a thousand feet of sandstone and shales. Drift lignite was also found in Marten river near the base of Marten mountain, but it was not traced to its source. On the Athabaska, the Grand rapid sandstone is lignitiferous, some of the seams being from four to five feet thick, but the quality is usually inferior. Several small seams also occur imbedded in the tar sands.” Deposits of Gypsum. Mr. McConnell states in his report that “Gypsum is deposited in small quantities by the mineral springs at La Saline, and it also occurs on Peace river between BouillÉ rapid and Peace point, where beds ten to fifteen feet in thickness are said to exist. Blocks of gypsum several feet in diameter were found on Peace river Mr. Alfred von Hamerstein gave evidence to the same effect before the Senate committee of 1907. He stated that there “are large deposits of gypsum on the southern bank of Peace river, near Peace point, which is situated somewhere near the mouth of Peace river. Very large deposits of the same economic mineral are in the neighbourhood of Salt river.” Salt Mines. Harmon, writing in his journal at Chipewyan as long ago as 1808, wrote:—“About sixty miles from this, down Slave river, there are several places where almost any quantity of excellent, clean, white salt may be taken, with as much ease as sand along the sea shore. From these places, the greater part of the North West is supplied with this valuable article.” Before the Senate committee of 1907, Mr. von Hamerstein stated that at Salt river, salt was found right on the surface. There is a spring which comes out of the ground, and the water is so salty that it cannot take up any more. Right at McMurray one hundred and fifty feet of rock salt was found. The traders and Hudson’s Bay Company’s people come down and take it with shovels, and they sell all the salt that is used along there. It is taken from Salt river. Witness did not know what they got for it. In his report of 1888, Mr. McConnell writes:—“At La Saline, on the Athabaska, twenty-eight miles below the Forks, and about two miles above the mouth of Red Earth creek, several mineral springs occur about half a mile east of the river on the edge of the valley there, sixty feet deep. The deposits from the springs, consisting principally of calcareous tufa, cover the face of the escarpment and have also built up a cone on the top of the bank ten to fifteen feet high and about two hundred feet wide. The water is strongly saline, holding a considerable percentage of sodic-chloride. Sulphuretted hydrogen gas escapes from the bank in several places and taints the air for some distance from the springs. Besides the calcareous tufa the cone contains small deposits of common salt, gypsum and native sulphur, while pure tar, derived from the tar sands beneath, issues from the bank in two places. The springs feed a shallow lake which is situated at the foot of the escarpment, and is surrounded by a clay flat partly bare and partly covered with coarse grasses.” Sulphur Beds and Springs. While giving evidence before the select committee of the Senate in 1907, Mr. von Hamerstein explained that there are sulphur beds and springs between McMurray and Lake Athabaska. Extensive sulphur deposits are found on the east side of Athabaska river between McMurray and the lake. It is inland about two miles, and in some places it is found in large quantities, and beyond the lake, at several places on the east shore, as well as the west shore of Great Slave river. In some places there is a very large amount of sulphur. It comes Mr. von Hamerstein also stated that on “the lower part of the Athabaska the limestone which is exposed all along the river is of a very good quality. There is also found clay fit for puddling and for making brick.” He added that sand of the very best quality for making glass is abundant, and this industry Mr. von Hamerstein said he believed was bound to come into existence and be profitable through the existence of cheap fuel, and intense heat in the shape of natural gas in the country. The Famous “Tar Sands.” The occurrence of huge deposits of an oily bituminous or tarry substance along Athabaska river was referred to in the journals of the pioneer explorers of the region. In the account of his historical journal in 1879, Mackenzie mentions that the exudation of the “bituminous fountains”, as he called them, when mixed with gum or the resinous substance collected from the spruce fir, was used by the natives and voyageurs to gum their canoes. After investigating the character of these deposits, geologists have agreed in describing the black plastic mass as “Tar Sands.” Mr. McConnell described these deposits as resting on the limestone and well exposed in high cliffs on both sides of Athabaska river. At Cascade rapid, this formation is one hundred and fifty feet thick and is so saturated that pure tar oozes out of the bank in several places and streams down the slope. Mr. McConnell proceeds in his report to say:—“The tar-sands mentioned above belong to the Dakota formation and constitute in this region the basal member of the Cretaceous system. They rest unconformably on the Devonian limestones. Lithologically they may be described as soft sandstone, the cementing material of which is a bitumen or inspissated petroleum derived from the underlying limestones. The sands are siliceous and usually rather fine-grained, but also grade occasionally into a coherent grit. The eastern boundary of the tar-sands was not precisely defined, but their outcrop was estimated to have a minimum distribution of fully one thousand square miles. In thickness they vary from one hundred and fifty to two hundred and twenty-five feet. The tar is unequally distributed through the sands, in some places merely staining the grains, but in most of the sections examined it is present in sufficient quantity to render the whole mass more or less plastic. An analysis by Mr. Hoffmann of a specimen collected some years ago by Doctor Bell gave by weight:—
A cubic foot of the bituminous sand rock weighs, according to Mr. Hoffmann, 117·5 lbs. This figure multiplied by the percentage of bitumen, 12·42, gives 14·59 lbs. as the amount of bitumen present in a cubic foot, or 14·59/63·7 = 22·9 per cent. in bulk, taking 63·7 pounds as the weight of one cubic foot of rock. At the “A few miles west of the Athabaska the sand rock, still saturated with tar, passes below the higher divisions of the Cretaceous, and its extension in this direction can only be ascertained by boring. It was not recognized on Peace river nor on the lower part of Red river, and must disappear somewhere in the intervening region. “In ascending the Athabaska the tar-sands, after an exposure of over twenty miles, pass below the surface at Boiler rapid and are not seen again.” Commercial Value of the Tar Sands. As to the actual value of these deposits, Mr. McConnell has this to say in his report:—“The commercial value of the tar sands themselves, as exposed at the surface, is at present uncertain, but the abundance of the material, and the high percentage of bitumen which it contains, make it probable that it may, in the future, be profitably utilized for various purposes, when this region is reached by railways. Among the uses to which it is adapted, may be mentioned roofing, paving, insulating electric wires, and it might also be mixed with the lignite which occurs in the neighbourhood, and pressed into briquettes for fuel.” Before the Senate committee of 1907 Mr. von Hamerstein was examined at length regarding these beds of tar sands, or “asphaltum,” as he called it, and as it is generally called in the district. He described these beds as occurring where petroleum seemed to have broken through the surface and soaked the ground for miles around. This substance, Mr. von Hamerstein remarked, could scarcely be termed asphaltum. It is oil gum—something the nature of tar. He produced a piece of this material which he had taken out himself. He also produced a bottle containing liquid taken from springs in the ground. He described it as nothing else but a heavy petroleum, which comes out of the ground. There are inexhaustible quantities of that. It has formed pools over the land which are of considerable size in some places. In summer time it comes out in large quantities, but it hardens in the winter, and of course the springs take time to get started again. It is not flowing continuously, but flows whenever it has a chance. The cold seems to draw it together and bake it. This is the largest quantity of petroleum witness had ever seen in the world. This area extends from McMurray for fifty miles along the road. Mr. von Hamerstein said he thought there was Nothing Like It in the World. He had been in Texas, Kansas, and Indian Territory, and had looked over the asphalt beds in California, but had found nothing to compare with it. This “asphalt” does not resemble Trinidad asphalt, for the latter comes from a crater, and the substance is not the same. The Athabaska substance is not straight asphalt; it is nothing but oil gum, out of which asphalt can be made. There is a large amount of petroleum in it. He tested it himself, and got some paraffin out of it. If he could obtain transportation, he could apply it for practical purposes. After it is refined, and all the foreign substance taken out of it, it can be used for road making. Lubricating oil can be made out of it, and in fact he made cylinder oil for his machinery out of it, and also got some paraffin out of it. The rest he used for making tar paper. This product would certainly become valuable as soon as there was transportation. The area covered by this substance amounts to about twenty square miles. Mr. J. B. Tyrrell, in his evidence before the same committee, referred to these outcrops of tar sands. There is, he stated, an enormous amount of sandstone there impregnated with hard thick petroleum of tar. The probability is that when one gets back from the outcrop in some places this substance will be found as a liquid oil instead of a hard tar that is found there on the Athabaska. Mr. Tyrrell said he thought it quite a fair and reasonable supposition that one would find good fluid oil in the beds of the same geological age as the tar sand of Athabaska river. This tar sand is very strongly in evidence along the river, and an enormous amount of tar has actually gone to waste, as it were—floated out and hardened there. The tar sand area extends for quite a number of miles along the river. As you descend the river you get to those tar-bearing beds, and then they are in evidence right along for a number of miles down the river. Then you leave them altogether, and they do not occur again. Mr. Tyrrell considered it highly probable that the petroleum or liquid would be found in close proximity. Of course the sandstone or tar would not have a marketable value at the present rates of transportation, but, outside of that, probably it would be used as paving material if it is ever needed in that vicinity. He thought it Could Be Used for Making Pavement. R. W. Ells, LL.D., F.R.S.C., in the Geological Survey report on “The Bitumen or Oil Shales of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, also on the Oil Shale Industry of Scotland,” says:—“The celebrated tar-sands of Athabaska river in Northern Alberta may at some time furnish material for distillation, since all attempts to find oil by boring have hitherto been unsuccessful. These tar-sands have been well described by Doctor Bell, and other officers of the Geological Survey who have visited the area. Doctor Bell, after describing the immense amount of tarry matter found along the river, states that ‘the pitchy sand itself may be useful for a variety of purposes. When chopped out of the bank in lumps like coal it was found to burn freely, with a strong smoky flame, if supported in such a way as to admit Oil Well at McKay, Athabaska river. Doctor Bell, in a paper before the American Institute of Mining Engineers, Toronto, July, 1907, said:—“Different experiments made with the tar-sands show that while they yield some good illuminating fluid, their principal value consists in the large proportion of Fine Lubricating Oil which they afford. This oil was found to remain liquid in the cold winter temperatures of the Canadian prairie provinces, and therefore, it is very suitable for car wheels and machinery working in the open air.” Mr. Crean in the report of his explorations in 1909 states:—“The outcrop of tar-sand commences about thirty miles south of McMurray on Athabaska river. It continues to about forty miles below McMurray on the river. It extends to the east and west for at least thirty miles, and varies in thickness from twenty to two hundred and twenty-five feet, with probably an average of one hundred and Indications of Petroleum. Apart altogether from the commercial value of the tar sands themselves, they are regarded by many geologists and practical operators as chiefly important as indicating the existence of deposits of petroleum. For instance, as long ago as 1888, Doctor G. M. Dawson of the Geological Survey stated before the Senate committee:—“The pitch found along the Athabaska may probably be of considerable value in the future; but in the meantime was most important as giving reason to believe that extensive deposits of petroleum existed in the country in which it occurred. The quantity appeared to be practically inexhaustible.” Mr. McConnell, in his report, enters very thoroughly into this phase of the question. He writes:—“The tar sands evidence an upwelling of petroleum to the surface unequalled elsewhere in the world, but the more volatile and valuable constituents of the oil have long since disappeared, and the rocks from which it issued are probably exhausted as the flow has ceased. In the extension of the tar sands under cover the conditions are different, and it is here that oils of economic value should be sought. In ascending the Athabaska, the tar sands are overlaid at Boiler rapid by a cover of shales sufficient to prevent the oils from rising to the surface, and in ascending the river, this cover gradually thickens. The geological attitudes of the shales is not the most favorable, as the beds dip away from the outcrop at the rate of five to ten feet to the mile, and it is possible that a part, or even the whole of the oil may have flowed northwards and eastwards through the sands, and escaped where these come to the surface. It is unlikely, however, that all the oil has escaped in this manner, as small anticlinals in the covering beds are almost certain to exist, and a differential hardening of the beds themselves may serve to enclose reservoirs or inverted basins of large capacity. It is also possible that the sands at their outcrop may, by the deposition of tarry substances, be plugged tightly enough to prevent further egress. Favourable indications of the presence of oil in the vicinity of the Athabaska are also afforded by the existence of the natural gas springs.” Tar Springs Reported. Mr. McConnell proceeds to show that “Indications of the presence of oil in the district are not confined to the tar sands, as on Peace river and Lesser Slave lake In his Summary Report of the operations of the Geological Survey, for the year 1894, Doctor G. M. Dawson, the director, referring to Mr. McConnell’s explorations and report, wrote:—“The occurrence of great quantities of bitumen or maltha along a portion of Athabaska river has long been known, having been noticed and commented upon by the very earliest travellers in the region. Beds of sand or very soft sandstone of Cretaceous age, varying from one hundred and forty to two hundred and twenty-five feet in thickness, are there found to be more or less completely saturated with bitumen, for a distance of some ninety miles along the river. These beds are known as ‘tar sands.’ More recently a number of smaller occurrences of bitumen in the form of ‘tar springs’ as well as sources of combustible gas, have been found at different places over a very extensive district. All these circumstances point to the probable existence of a great petroleum field, of which possibly some parts have already exhausted themselves in saturating the lowest Cretaceous sands, but of which probably the greater portion is still effectually sealed by the thick covering of overlying rocks. It is believed that the source of the petroleum which has given rise to the deposits of bitumen is in the Devonian strata, which here immediately underlie those of Cretaceous age.” Experimental Borings. In 1893, at the suggestion of Mr. McConnell and Doctor Dawson, the Dominion government began experimental borings for petroleum in the Athabaska region. The importance of actually ascertaining by means of boring operations, the existence or otherwise of economically valuable bodies of petroleum in the region had been recognized for many years, but the remoteness of the region and the apparent impossibility of immediately utilizing any discoveries which might be made, had hitherto prevented the necessary experiments. A vote of seven thousand dollars was obtained from Parliament for the purpose of initiating this work, the arrangements for which were entrusted to the Geological Survey. After careful consideration, it was determined that a bore-hole should in the first instance be sunk at Athabaska, at which place the depth of strata to be passed through in order to reach the horizon of the “tar sands” had been estimated by Mr. McConnell at approximately from twelve to fifteen hundred feet. On October 24 the bore-hole had reached a depth of one thousand and eleven feet, when it was found necessary, owing to the incoherent character of the rocks, to stop work pending the arrival of more casing. This was placed in the hole during the winter, but the drilling itself could not be resumed till the spring, as the great quantity of gas met with rendered it dangerous to keep a fire in the derrick or anywhere in the vicinity of the well. This first boring was unavoidably abandoned at a depth of one thousand seven hundred and seventy feet, without reaching the probably oil-bearing beds at the base of the Cretaceous formation but within a short distance of attaining these beds. During these particular boring operations, according to the engineer in charge, at three hundred and thirty-four feet a large flow of gas was struck. The roaring of the gas could be heard half a mile away from the works. The foreman who had seen the big gas well at Kingsville, Ontario, stated that the flow of gas was as strong as in that well. Second and Third Borings. The second and third of the experimental borings in search of petroleum in the northern part of Alberta were begun early in the summer of 1897 near the mouth of Pelican river on the Athabaska and at Victoria on the Saskatchewan below Edmonton, respectively. The sites selected for these borings were determined largely by the knowledge of the stratigraphical succession and the thickness already gained in the first bore-hole at Athabaska. The borings at Pelican and Victoria had reached depths of eight hundred and twenty and seven hundred and five feet respectively before winter. Operations were resumed at both places in the spring of 1898, as soon as the requisite arrangements could be made. Work had been suspended at Pelican in 1897 because of a very large flow of natural gas, under great pressure. It was hoped that most of this gas might blow off during the winter, and it was found, in fact, to be considerably reduced in amount when the locality was again reached by the engineer in charge in 1898. Work was resumed, but additional and very strong flows of gas were soon met with in the underlying beds, and after exhausting every method of mastering them and continuing the boring, it became necessary again to suspend operations. In regard to the actual existence of petroleum, the results of the government borings have not up to the present stage been satisfactory. The boring near the mouth of Pelican river penetrated the lower sandy beds of the Cretaceous for some distance and demonstrated the existence in these beds of a thick tarry petroleum or maltha, besides that of great reservoirs of natural gas. It proved impossible to carry out this boring to the very base of the Cretaceous and into the underlying formation, in which the existence of a more fluid and merchantable oil was still to be hoped for. Doctor Dawson, reporting upon the result of these operations, stated:—“The bore furnishes additional evidence of the existence in the Northwest territories of a vast gas-field. The seemingly uniform continuity of the Cretaceous beds, makes it almost certain that gas-wells may be obtained by boring, over a great area. Unfortunately the Pelican boring, like the boring at Athabaska, did not penetrate deep enough to furnish reliable information as to the existence or non-existence of petroleum of a high quality. The presence of low-quality petroleum—maltha—is demonstrated, but as the more liquid oil may very probably underlie this, and as we did not reach a sufficient depth to determine the point, the result is unsatisfactory.” Why the Boring Was Stopped. The following extracts from the report of the engineer in charge of the boring operations at Pelican river, Mr. A. W. Fraser, are interesting, and show how “If the hard slate stratum at eight hundred and twenty-one feet six inches had been pierced, a great flow of petroleum might have, in my opinion, been encountered. Indeed it is altogether possible that at that depth we were within a few feet of a large body of petroleum. Had it been struck while the flow of gas was in an unconquered condition, the result would have been disastrous, as there might have been no possible means of checking the flow. The flow of gas was so great that a cannon ball could not have been dropped down the pipe. “At seven hundred and seventy three feet a heavier flow of gas was struck. It made a roaring noise coming out of the bore, and had quite a pronounced petroleum odour. Increased quantities of petroleum in the cuttings at these depths were encountered. “At eight hundred and twenty feet a tremendous flow of gas was struck, which blew every drop of water out of the bore. The roar of the gas could be heard for three miles or more. Soon it had completely dried the hole, and was blowing a cloud of dust fifty feet into the air. Small nodules of iron-pyrites, about the size of a walnut, were blown out of the hole with incredible velocity. They came out like bullets from a rifle. We could not see them going, but could hear them crack against the top of the derrick. It was impossible to do anything with the bore that day, so we were forced to let it stand just as it was. There was danger that the men would be killed if struck by these missiles. The next day a long stick was put on the tools, so that the men could turn them without getting too close to the bore. In this way we succeeded in penetrating through eighteen inches of a conglomerate mass of these iron-pyrites nodules embedded in heavy petroleum. As we drilled through this the gas blew out the nodules of iron-pyrites embedded in oil. “At eight hundred and twenty-one feet six inches a very hard stratum of slate was encountered, which we penetrated about three inches. We could get no water down the well on account of the strong flow of gas, so we could make no further progress with the drill in this hard cutting. The danger to the men was so great that they refused to work longer over the bore. We then put the four and five-eighths inch casing down to the very bottom, hoping to shut off gas, but it failed to do so.” Terrific Pressure of Natural Gas. Work was resumed here in 1898 (Geological Survey Report, Vol. XI, page 33a). It was thought that the flow of gas might have decreased, but on work being resumed and the hole being cleaned out “the gas which had increased in power with the cleaning of the hole cut the walls down and blew great clouds of sand and gravel higher than the derrick.” Subsequently at eight hundred and thirty-seven feet such a strong flow of gas was struck that they were obliged to suspend operations. Mr. Fraser further says in the same report:—“I proved the general excellence and utility of the gas during the season, using it for my boiler, cookstove Begged to be Excused. When giving his evidence before the Senate committee of 1907 Mr. von Hamerstein begged to be excused from divulging results of his work in boring for petroleum in the McMurray district, as other people had entrusted their money with him in the enterprise. He said he felt at liberty to state that their works so far made him very confident that they were going to have one of the biggest petroleum fields in the world. There was no doubt he said, petroleum would be found all through that country, from Athabaska river to Peace river. He remarked that when his party was boring once they struck natural gas, and one hundred and fifty feet of salt. They went down through a hundred feet of salt, and then they abandoned it. At this particular place they went about eleven hundred feet altogether. They never went lower than eleven hundred feet. Mr. von Hamerstein added: “As far as petroleum is concerned, I have all my money put into it, and there is other people’s money in it, and I have to be loyal. As to whether you can get petroleum in merchantable quantities, that is a matter about which I would not care to speak. I have been taking in machinery for about three years. Last year I placed about fifty thousand dollars worth of machinery in there. I have not brought it in for ornamental purposes, although it does look nice and home-like.” In the winter of 1910, Corporal A. H. Schurer, of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police, made a patrol from Athabaska to McMurray. In his report he states:—“I visited the oil wells sunk by Baron A. von Hamerstein at Poplar island, six miles below McMurray. I could see very little with the exception of the machinery, as the snow had covered everything up. A Mr. Falkner, supposed to be representing a party of eastern capitalists, has been staking out claims between McMurray and McKay for oil, during the past two months, and I understand that he is also to prospect Clearwater river east of McMurray for petroleum and other minerals. In December last Mr. Julius Alteschul, a German, claiming to be a representative of a London, England, financial house, visited McMurray, and after having been there for a few days, stated that he had found a mineral more valuable than radium, and that as soon as Athabaska river was navigable, he would place one hundred workmen and their families at McMurray, where he intended to start an industry; what this industry was to be Mr. Alteschul did not make clear. It is the general impression that Alteschul was merely paying a visit to a much talked of place in order to find out what minerals actually existed, but did not want his mission to be known.” Natural Gas. Corporal Mellor states (Royal Northwest Mounted Police report of 1909) that when patrolling the buffalo country near Peace point he came across “a large natural gas spout burning in a muskeg and was informed it never goes out.” During his examination before the select committee of the Senate in 1907 Mr. von Hamerstein drew the attention of the committee to the waste of natural oil gas at the government bore hole at Pelican portage or Pelican rapids. It was still burning. When Mr. von Hamerstein went up in the month of June, 1906, it blew about eighteen or twenty feet. About four years previously he found it was about forty feet, a vertical stream. It exploded with such force that not a hundredth part of the gas had a chance to be inflamed. The ground all around it had fallen in. Mr. von Hamerstein expressed the opinion that this is the biggest gas well on the face of the earth. He had a gas expert, a Mr. Chamberlain, from Petrolia, who told him that it was the biggest well in the world. Mr. Chamberlain operated in Indiana, Kansas, and all over the United States, and was the largest operator in the natural gas business. In connection with their prospecting, mining and boring operations in Athabaska district Mr. von Hamerstein’s parties use quantities of natural gas for lighting purposes. They light their camps with it, and do their blacksmithing with it, and it comes in very handy. They get the gas at all kinds of depths, and get several veins of it. They never get petroleum without gas, as they have to strike gas before they strike petroleum, so there must be a large quantity of petroleum there. According to Mr. von Hamerstein’s evidence upon this occasion, on Peace river there is evidence of natural gas also, small amounts of tar and also evidence of petroleum. That would be sixteen miles from Peace River Landing, on an island called Tar island. The natural gas springs there throw out small amounts of tar, and about thirty miles from the mouth, on the north shore, there is also a spring. It is what Mr. von Hamerstein called an oil spring or tar spring. W. F. Bredin, M. L. A., before the Senate committee of 1907, stated that for miles along Athabaska river the natural gas is all the time escaping from the clay banks of the river and in the river itself, because all across the river you can see the bubbles rising. The witness had lighted some of the gas vents, and boiled his tea pail by hanging it over the flame. More Important Gas Springs. According to Mr. McConnell, the most important natural gas spring in the district occurs on the Athabaska at the mouth of Little Buffalo river. The gas here forces its way up from the tar sands, through two hundred and fifty feet of the Clearwater shales and issues from the surface in numerous small jets distributed over an area fifty feet or more in diameter. Some of the jets burn steadily when lighted, until extinguished by heavy rains or strong wind, and afford sufficient heat to cook a camp meal. A second spring was noticed on the left bank of the Athabaska about thirteen miles below the mouth of Pelican river. The volume of gas escaping here is less than at the mouth of Mr. McConnell adds:—“The natural gas springs have less value in themselves at present than in the indications they afford of the existence of petroleum beneath.” In his introduction to Mr. G. A. Young’s descriptive sketch of the geology and economic minerals of Canada (1909) Mr. R. W. Brock, Director of the Geological Survey, wrote:—“Petroleum and natural gas are obtained in Ontario; Alberta is also producing a large quantity of gas, and will probably develop petroleum fields..... The interior plain (of the Canadian northwest) is underlain for the most part by sedimentary rocks, chiefly of Cretaceous age, and containing coal, building stones, clays, and cement materials. Natural gas over wide areas and under great pressure has been tapped, and there is every indication of a large oil field in the northern portion, at least, of Alberta.” |
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