Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-06-18
20 Year Old Discovery of Canadian Tar
Sands May Be Solution For Clay Roads

luck and bad judgment in having set
tied down on land in such a God-0r-
saken place, met Bill and Bill bought
the farm. This was not a cash trans
action-he traded an old watch for the
farm. contriving by dint of artful shak-
ings behind his back to keep the old
ticker running until the new Owner
disappeared down the trail. Probably
both felt equally satisfied with the deal.
More Barter
Here Bill commenced vegetable
growing. packing his .'spuds' on foot
to Atbabasca landing. where he got a
fair price for them. A passing freight
er offered the resourceful Bill two
heads of cabbage for 81, the restau-
rant business al again opened, cab
bage soup figuring daily on the menu.
This again was not n cash deal. the
cabbage being exchanged for one worn
suit of underwear. Two days later
Bill sold the farm and the budding res
taurant business for two cows and en-
tered the ranching business on a large
scale.
The cows were a failure. however.
so Bill traded them for a bale of furs
and set out on the long trail to Ed
monitor, where he hoped to realize
heavily on his deal. While he was on
the way down the Boer war com
menced, the price Of furs went down
with a loud bang. and Bill threw his
bale of furs into the Saskatchewan
river as he entered the c~ity--broke,
but still resourceful.
The Canadian Pacific Railway COM
pany Mt this time wished some infor-
nation of the mineral of the
Athabasca country, and this gave Bill
his opportunity. When he returned,
be carried with him. in addition to his
other reports. the news of the immense
tar sand beds at McMurray. The com
pany cared little for the news, but Bill
thought it was the most important find
Of the trip. The tar sands has been
known as far back as 1893. when Sir
Alexander Mackenzie made his famous
voyage of exploration through the
country, and the old Hudson's Bay
traders knew of their existence, too,
but thought very little of them as a
commercial possibility.
Knowing nothing of tar sands. but
sensing the immense value of the btu
men, and the wider possibilities of oil,
Bill at ice set out for MINES sofa,
where he joined an oil well drilling
gang. anH worked from blacksmith
through easy stages as tool dresser,
helper. assistant drilled and finally
drilIer, finishing up with a course in
oil at the University of Minnesota.
Lucky In OIL
Lucky speculation in oil lands Melted
Bill his first real fortune. and with
some $4,000 in cash. he returned to
western Canada and fitted out a drill
ing crew to go to McMurray, His crew
reached the A%thabasca in 1904. and in
1905 had made good progress, but a
heavy vein of salt closed down their
efforts, and for the next four years
Bill drilled and drilled in vain, finally
deciding that luck was against him for
oil finding. and that his first love, the
bitumcn sands. should be his last.
Then for Is years Bill bombarded
the government at Ottawa with stories
of the vast possibilities Of the Nc
Murray tar sands. Nobody would
listen to him., and he earned the title
by which he is known today, when he
pressed his claim for tar sand de-
posits that outrivaled the famous BIZ
tumen deposits at Trinidad in value.