Material Type

Mixed Media

Date Range

1924 and 2011

Description Level

Fonds

Physical Description

54 black and white photographs 1 manuscript item

Physical Condition

Very Good

History Biographical

"The development of natural gas in southern Alberta created the promise of a great future for the area and no company played a bigger part than Canadian Western Natural Gas, Light, Heat and Power Co. created in 1912. Eugene Coste, now considered the “father of the natural gas industry” had a pivotal role in the search for natural gas in southern Alberta. He directed drilling which began in 1908 and by February, 1909 Old Glory (Bow Island No. 1) became the first successful well in what would become the Bow Island field, about 80 miles east of Lethbridge near the South Saskatchewan River. Drilling of more producing wells proved up the Bow Island field and Canadian Western built a 170-mile transmission line in 1912 to serve customers from Lethbridge to Calgary. Exploration continued in the area with considerable good fortune. In August 1923 a major discovery was made six miles southeast of the town of Foremost, Alberta, south of the Bow Island field. The Lethbridge Herald declared the new 17 million cubic foot well was the “best well struck in eight years” and three more wells were immediately drilled. Combined with the capability of the wells in the Bow Island field, this new discovery heightened prospects of great things to come. Sufficient gas supply was assured for Lethbridge, Calgary and the intervening towns. Most importantly, the new production would ensure the financial success of Canadian Western as well as the addition of new customers attracted to the convenience of winter heating and year round cooking with natural gas. Plans were begun to connect the Foremost field to the company’s system. With approval from the Alberta Utilities Board in May 1924, natural gas rates were increased to 43 cents per thousand cubic feet for two years to finance this expansion . Included in this financial arrangement were the purchase and delivery of the steel pipe. the building of a 10-inch pipeline from Foremost to Burdett, a distance of about 32 miles, where it would connect with the 16-inch transmission line to Calgary plus the drilling of an additional well in the Foremost field, bringing to four the number of wells there. An associated private telephone line would also be erected. The one caveat to this rate increase was that the new pipeline was to be completed by the end of October giving Canadian Western just six months to complete the plan and execute the job. Work began immediately. James J. Morrison , construction superintendent, who had been with the company since 1913, was in charge of building the new pipeline. Morrison was responsible for the logistics of hiring men, assembling and transporting the supplies, setting up a moveable construction camp complete with facilities to feed the men, meeting time and budgetary restrictions as well as tying in the new line. A gasoline-powered ditching machine was used to trench the pipeline route which had already been surveyed in preparation for the work. Much of the land the pipeline crossed consisted of sandy soil but when they reached the bottom of Forty Mile Coulee, the ditcher began spewing up oyster shells from a 12-inch layer encountered just a couple of feet below the surface of the ground. The men had no way of knowing then that millions of years before, this area had been covered by an inland sea and the oysters were among several types of mollusks that palaeontologists would eventually discover in a number of other places as proof of Alberta’s natural and geologic history. At the time, however, the oyster shells were simply an oddity to the pipeliners, an unlikely finding in an unexpected location. The steel pipe arrived at the Burdett railway station where it was unloaded at an adjacent staging area in preparation for delivery to the job site. Horse drawn wagons conveyed the pipe south from the station. Pipe was laid out parallel to the newly dug ditch. The labourers joined the pipe sections with Dresser couplings, coated the joints with hot enamel, a tar like substance, and lowered the pipe into the ground. It was back breaking work. But by mid-September only seven miles of the 32-mile pipeline remained to be completed. One of the biggest projects of the summer for Canadian Western, the job was under Morrison’s constant scrutiny with occasional visits from P. D. (Porter Delphi) Mellon, the company’s chief engineer located in Calgary. The company president H. B. Pearson, in Calgary, received reports of the progress on a regular basis and served as the project’s spokesman when newspaper reporters needed updates. With the pipeline in the ditch, pressure testing for leaks was well underway by October 14, two weeks before the target completion date, the ditch was filled in and graded and a week later, the pipeline crew was disbanded. The new Foremost field had been connected on time to Canadian Western’s main line adding significantly to the total of 55 million cubic feet a day of natural gas available for customers all the way north to Calgary. Between the inception of the company in 1912 and the completion of the Foremost line, the number of customers served had more than trebled. Canadian Western’s system at the end of 1924 which included 19 producing gas wells and 254 miles of main trunk lines in southern Alberta, served a territory of more than 220 miles and a population of 90,000. “The problem of gas supply has been solved,” the company told the public in November, 1924. “We claim for ourselves neither perfection nor more than ordinary efficiency. We honestly feel, however, that about all that can be done by a band of trained, loyal and enthusiastic employees in the way of good service is being done....” [Source: 'The Foremost Pipeline & James J. Morrison', by Chris Morrison. 2011]

Language

English

Acquisition Source

Morrison, Chris 537 25 Street South Lethbridge, Alberta T1J 3P4

Custodial History

The photographs originally belonged to the donor's grandfather-in-law, Mr. James J. Morrison, who supervised the project.

Scope and Content

The fonds consists of 54 black and white photographs of the laying of the Foremost - Burdett natural gas pipeline from May to October 1924. Also included is a history of the project written by the donor.

Access Restrictions

Public Access

Accession No.

20111003

Collection

Archive

Less detail