Oil boom in the North Fork

Large headlines in August 1951 declared oil drilling would start in the North Fork. This was exciting news with hopes for commercial quantities, new road punched through to the rest of Canada, economic values on the undeveloped valley between primitive mountain areas.

It was reported the oil drilling venture culminated nearly 50 years of drilling by stock supported companies. Drilling was for Petroleum Oil Co., which had a number of producing wells in Alberta.

Regent Drilling Co. was at Sage Creek with big rigs hauled from Chip Lake, Alberta, 85 miles west of Edmonton. Ten large loaded tandem trucks passed through Columbia Falls to travel the North Fork, only access road in Montana. Rigs, valued at a million dollars, were hauled by James and Reimer Ltd. of Calgary and Edmonton. Site was on Sage Creek just across the Canadian border from the Flathead river's north fork in Montana. Well site was 70 miles north of Columbia Falls.

Capital Exploration Co. of Calgary had two seismograph trucks moving back and forth across the 15 mile-wide mountain valley that was just to the west of Waterton National Park. British Columbia Dept. of Public Works had crews repairing the bridge over the Flathead's north fork just across the line in Canada.

Four families from Alberta with trailer houses were waiting at Polebridge for accommodations at Sage Creek. Drilling crews had rented three Rover cabins. New oil camp was being set up near Washburn's lodge on Sage Creek.

Early Flathead settlers in 1890 knew of oil in the North Fork. They told of Indians placing blankets in the creek. They would then wring oil from the blankets and use in their hair.

First prospecting for oil in the state of Montana was believed to be on the old Dan Doverspike place between the two Kintla lakes just after 1900. Shallow test wells were located in what is now Glacier National Park. There had been oil seepage. Wells were said to have a natural gas flow.

In 1913, Flathead Petroleum Co., Wyoming capital put down a test well on Sage Creek. A trapper, Andy Anderson, supposedly ran his Model T for 15 years on seepage from that well.

Gladys Shay is a longtime resident and columnist for the Hungry Horse News.