History
Oil was first seen by Alexander MacKenzie during his exploration of the river in 1789 but it was not until 1911 that an oil bearing formation was discovered. Imperial Oil, a major employer in the town, was established in the area in 1937 with a refinery built in 1937.
During the Second World War, Norman Wells was deemed important as a source of oil for military operations in Alaska and the Yukon. The Canol Road and pipeline project was undertaken to enable the piping of oil to Whitehorse, with the flow starting in 1944. Although Norman Wells crude was light and easily flowed at temperatures as low as -62 °C (-80 °F), the line did not work well and was shut down shortly after the war ended. The road, which began at Canol Camp across the river, was abandoned. The Canol Heritage Trail is what remains of the road in the NWT.
The Norman Wells Proven Area Agreement of 1944 is a partnership between Imperial Oil and the federal government (administered by the Indian and Northern Affairs Canada) that has lasted to this day. The completion of an oil pipeline from Norman Wells to Zama City resulted in increased activity.
Read more about this topic: Norman Wells
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“While the Republic has already acquired a history world-wide, America is still unsettled and unexplored. Like the English in New Holland, we live only on the shores of a continent even yet, and hardly know where the rivers come from which float our navy.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“A people without history
Is not redeemed from time, for history is a pattern
Of timeless moments.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)
“We don’t know when our name came into being or how some distant ancestor acquired it. We don’t understand our name at all, we don’t know its history and yet we bear it with exalted fidelity, we merge with it, we like it, we are ridiculously proud of it as if we had thought it up ourselves in a moment of brilliant inspiration.”
—Milan Kundera (b. 1929)