William Stewart Herron

Herron was born in Ontario and had worked in the Pennsylvania oil fields.
Eventually he returned to Canada and settled in Okotoks purchasing a 900 acre ranch. He also started a cartage service that hauled coal from Black Diamond to Okotoks. During one of his trips he noticed seepage along Sheep Creek, sensing he found something he took two samples and sent them to the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California for testing. Both reported back that there were hydrocarbons present. Discovering this he proceeded to purchase another 700 acres of land in the surrounding area, he continued to buy mineral leases eventually controlling more than 7,000 acres.

In 1912 Herron managed to acquire backing from Archibald W. Dingman, a Calgary Businessman and R.B. Bennett, a Calgary lawyer and future Prime Minister of Canada, establishing the Calgary Petroleum Products Co.

In May 1914 after drilling to a depth of 2,718 feet, the company hit "wet" natural gas at Dingman No.1 well pure enough to fuel automobiles.

Although news of Herron and Dingman's discovery started financial speculation in Calgary, with more than five hundred companies starting up overnight, Herron discovery failed to attract eastern Canadian investment.

August 1914 brought the start of World War I and an end to the first oil boom in Turner Valley.

In 1921 Royalite Ltd. (a subsidary of Imperial Oil) took over Herron's company but he managed to re-establish himself in the industry creating the successful Okalta Oil Limited in 1925.

Today in Alberta, William Sewart Herron is know as the Father of the Petroleum Industry.