Sleepy Simpson was once heart of west’s petroleum industry
The museum at Simpson, north of Moose Jaw, has been a want-to-visit place since writing a piece on the village history several years ago.
On this mid-July day a friend and Yours Truly made the drive on Highway Two North.
The small museum is located on the second floor of the old Legion building.
The RM administrator seemed puzzled why we wanted to see the museum when we have no connection to the town.
Someone did a lot of work compiling and building the collection from the early days village model, to the clothing and memorabilia.
Today nobody would suspect this sleepy well-kept farm centre was among the first oil towns in the West.
In 1925 Simpson Oil was formed 23 years after the first oil discovery in Western Canada at Waterton, Alberta and 24 years before the iconic Leduc Number One came in near Edmonton.
Settlers digging wells on their farms kept encountering oil seepage, which led to consulting a geologist to determine the potential.
Local farmers pooled 20,000 acres of leases and raised $462,000 from sale of shares. That was a lot of money considering the Saskatchewan Government budget was $7 million.
Drilling started in 1926. A natural gas explosion set drilling back but the company eventually hit oil at 2,258 feet. One achievement was discovering a natural gas pool between Simpson and Imperial that supplied both towns. A well that found salt just north of Simpson was the major success. Directors purchased and installed a salt processing plant with 20 tons a day production capacity in 1932.
The salt was naturally 99.9 per cent pure. Ron Kennedy, who came to the museum while we were there, said the salt needed no processing.
“It was sold in boxes like Sifto Salt,” he said. “Only it said Simpson Salt on the box.”
The drilling rig used by the company is part of the Western Development Museum collection in Saskatoon. Manufacture and sale of salt “proved reasonably satisfactory from a financial standpoint,” according to a company annual report.
Profits were re-invested in drilling a number of test holes for oil and several wells through to 1934.
“The Simpson Oil Company Limited is the only oil company in the province to undertake exploration work on such a large scale…” said the 1934 report. Simpson Oil closed operations for a few years in the 1930s, ceasing business in 1945. Simpson’s role in the development of the Western Canadian petroleum industry faded into history.
Travelling around town we saw the unique tower on the 1915 era United Church, now housing antiques and the 1905 hotel still serving as a meeting place for residents.