Roughnecks, Wildcats and
Doodlebugs
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A unique feature of the website is the inclusion of
CKUA Radio Network Inc.'s 24-part documentary and 60
minute video entitled
Roughnecks, Wildcats and Doodlebugs
Part 10: Scouts, Landmen
and the First Landlady
Following the 1947
oil discovery at Leduc, oil companies scrambled to
control the landscape and the bounty flowing
beneath. Scouts were not only employed by oil
companies to gather information about rival
producers, but they were also often used as "land
and lease" men to help secure the mineral rights of
potentially oil rich property.
Find out how the scouts made the adjustment from
their role as cunning spies to a new duty as shrewd
pitchmen in order to negotiate deals with
landowners. There were sometimes extraordinary
measures that had to be taken to win the trust of
those who were nervous about the idea of renting or
selling out their property to an oil company.
Those who served as land and lease men describe
their experiences in the competitive world of land
lease deals. Thelma Cameron, the first woman to
serve as a landlady for the Alberta petroleum
industry, is also interviewed.
This episode features the voices of
Bill Allen ,
John Ballem ,
Thelma Cameron , Carl Chapman, Ned
Gilbert,
Jeep Hall , Charles Hetherington, Jack Orman.
Part 11: Technology in the
Field: Seismic Exploration
When the oil
industry in Alberta was still in its early stages of
development, primitive methods and guesswork were
often employed to ascertain where a new deposit of
oil could be found. Such conditions did nothing to
ease the minds of financial investors, who demanded
a more accurate method of hunting down oil fields
without having to drill for them first.
This is the story of the development of oil field
exploration, from the very early days of witching
tools, and "doodlebug" contraptions, to the much
more sophisticated seismic technology, which employs
soundwaves to determine the underground details of
the landscape. "Jar heads" and "human computers" all
had a role to play in improving the method by which
oil was discovered, and in shaping the oil industry
as it is known in Alberta today.
This episode features the voices of
Bill Allen ,
John Ballachey , George Blundin, Spike Brown, Oscar
Erdman,
Jeep Hall ,
Aubrey Kerr ,
Doug Layer ,
Fin Lineham ,
Don MacKenzie ,
Archie Miller ,
Carl Nickle ,
Lauder Nowers ,
Jack Pettinger , Wes Raby, Tom Kimmett, Nick Taylor,
Tom Wark , Jack Wegh.
Part 12: Rivals in the
Field: Geophysics and Geology
Geology was
once the science of choice when it came to oilfield
exploration. Teams of geologists were hired by oil
companies to spend weeks in the wilderness,
gathering information on where the next big oil
reserves could be. But with the passage of time came
changes in how potential oil fields were to be
located. By the late 1950s, slogging through the
bush on foot with packhorses eventually gave way to
aerial surveys performed by planes and helicopters.
Even geology itself would have to make way for the
burgeoning science of geophysics and its emphasis on
seismic technology. This change did not always come
easily, and led to a rivalry of sorts between
geologists and geophysicists working in the oil
patch.
This episode features the voices of
Bill Allen ,
John Ballem , Ted Best, Spike Brown, Bert Corey,
Garnet Edwards , Oscar Erdman, John Gray,
Alex Hemstock ,
Aubrey Kerr , Fred Kidd, Tom Kimmett,
Doug
Layer ,
Fred McKinnon ,
Scov Murray ,
Lauder Nowers ,
Mary Pandachuk,
Jack Pettinger , Jim Scott,
Tom Wark ,
Jack Wegh.