Turner Valley, 1914: Alberta’s First Oil Boom

Join Dr. Paul Chastko as he recounts the frenzy of Alberta’s 1914 Turner Valley oil rush. Hundreds of companies, thousands of brokers, and George Edward Buck’s fraudulent “salted” well sparked a manhunt and new regulations around Alberta’s oil. Hear how ambition, hype, and deceit shaped Alberta’s oil politics, economy, and culture, with lessons for today’s energy debates.

About the Speaker

Paul Chastko, from the Department of History at the University of Calgary, is a leading historian of North America’s oil and gas industry. His most recent book, The Boom: Oil, Popular Culture, and Politics in Alberta, 1912–1924 (University of Calgary Press, 2025) uncovers the “origin story” of Alberta’s petroleum culture, beginning well before the famous Leduc strike of 1947. He is also the author of Developing Alberta's Oil Sands: From Karl Clark to Kyoto (University of Calgary Press, 2004).

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Host or Publisher Calgary Public Library