Pushing a barge past Bitumount
Arriving at Bitumount by plane
Canadian Pacific Airlines
  • Karl Clark at work on his prototype separation plant, 1929, Source: Glenbow Archives, ND-3-4596a

    Karl Clark begins his long career investigating Alberta’s oil sands.

    Karl Clark at work on his prototype separation plant, 1929
    Source: Glenbow Archives, ND-3-4596a

  • Robert Fitzsimmons at Bitumount, ca. 1920s, Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, A3358

    Robert Cosmas Fitzsimmons visits the Athabasca River and purchases an oil lease.

    Robert Fitzsimmons at Bitumount, ca. 1920s
    Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, A3358

  • Oil sands separation plant at Dunvegan Yards, Edmonton, 1925, Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, A3526

    Karl Clark and Sidney Blair build prototype hot water separation plants.

    Oil sands separation plant at Dunvegan Yards, Edmonton, 1925
    Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, A3526

  • Prospectus for the International Bitumen Company, n.d., Source:	Provincial Archives of Alberta, PR1971.0356.544a,b.ProspectusOf.IBC.1

    International Bitumen Company Ltd. is incorporated.

    Prospectus for the International Bitumen Company Ltd., n.d.
    Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, PR1971.0356.544a,b.ProspectusOf.IBC.1

  • Oil sands separation plant on the Clearwater River, 1930, Source:	Provincial Archives of Alberta, A3536

    Karl Clark’s hot water separation plant moves to the Clearwater River, near Fort McMurray.

    Oil sands separation plant on the Clearwater River, 1930
    Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, A3536

  • Diagram of the process patented by Clark in 1929, Source: Canadian Intellectual Property Office, Patent 289058

    Karl Clark is issued Patent 289058 for “Bituminuous [sic] Sand Processing”.

    Diagram of the process patented by Clark in 1929
    Source: Canadian Intellectual Property Office, Patent 289058

  • Fitzsimmons' separation plant, Bitumount, ca. 1930, Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, A3383

    Robert Fitzsimmons builds his first separation plant at Bitumount.

    Fitzsimmons’s separation plant, Bitumount, ca. 1930
    Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, A3383

  • New plant at Bitumount, n.d., Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, A3378

    Robert Fitzsimmons builds a new plant designed to produce 200 barrels of oil per day, but it runs for only a short while.

    New plant at Bitumount, n.d.
    Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, A3378

  • Diagram of Fitzsimmons' patented separation process, 1932, Source:	Canadian Intellectual Property Office, Patent 326747

    Robert Fitzsimmons is issued Patent 326747 for a “Process and Apparatus for Recovering Bitumen.”

    Diagram of Fitzsimmons’s patented separation process, 1932
    Source: Canadian Intellectual Property Office, Patent 326747

  • The International Bitumen Company plant, Bitumount, ca. 1937, Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, PAA A3375

    Robert Fitzsimmons builds a refinery at Bitumount.

    The International Bitumen Company Ltd. plant, Bitumount, ca. 1937
    Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, PAA A3375

  • Fitzsimmons (left) shows Champion the oil sands at Bitumount, n.d., Source: University of Alberta Archives, 83-160-113

    Montreal financier Lloyd R. Champion buys controlling interest in International Bitumen Company Ltd. and changes name to Oil Sands Ltd.

    Fitzsimmons (left) shows Champion the oil sands at Bitumount, n.d.
    Source: University of Alberta Archives, 83-160-113

  • Ernest Manning in 1943, Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, A483

    Ernest Manning, Premier of Alberta, announces a loan of $250,000 to Oil Sands Ltd. to build a prototype oil sands separation plant at Bitumount.

    Ernest Manning in 1943
    Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, A483

  • Alberta Government Oil Sands Project, Bitumount, 1952, Source: University of Alberta Archives, 91-137-127

    Agreement with Oil Sands Ltd. is cancelled. The Bitumount project becomes known as the Alberta Government Oil Sands Project.

    Alberta Government Oil Sands Project, Bitumount, 1952
    Source: University of Alberta Archives, 91-137-127

  • Diagram of process patented by Clark in 1948, Source: Canadian Intellectual Property Office, Patent 448231

    Karl Clark is issued Patent 448231 for “Extracting Oil from Bituminous Sand.”

    Diagram of process patented by Clark in 1948
    Source: Canadian Intellectual Property Office, Patent 448231

  • Karl Clark at the completed Bitumount plant, n.d., Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, PA410.3

    Alberta Government Oil Sands Project plant at Bitumount is completed.

    Karl Clark at the completed Bitumount plant, n.d.
    Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, PA410.3

  • Cover of Blair's Report on the Alberta Bituminous Sands, 1950, Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, PR1971.0345.box24.503

    Blair Report indicates that developing the oils sands could be profitable.

    Cover of Sidney Blair’s Report on the Alberta Bituminous Sands, 1950
    Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, PR1971.0345.box24.503

  • Poster on the University of Alberta Campus, 1951, Source: University of Alberta Archives, 91-137-122

    Over one hundred delegates attend the Athabasca Oil Sands Conference at the University of Alberta.

    Poster on the University of Alberta Campus, 1951
    Source: University of Alberta Archives, 91-137-122

  • Bitumount, ca. 1949-1950, Source: Glenbow Archives, pa-1599-451-2

    Government of Alberta puts the Bitumount plant and 5,784 acres up for sale, but does not receive any adequate bids. The plant remains non-operational.

    Bitumount, ca. 1949-1950
    Source: Glenbow Archives, pa-1599-451-2

  • Diagram of Fitzsimmons’ patented 1953 separation process, Source: Canadian Intellectual Property Office, Patent 493081

    Robert Fitzsimmons is issued Patent 493081 for a “Process for Recovering Bitumen from Tar Sands.”

    Diagram of Fitzsimmons’s patented 1953 separation process
    Source: Canadian Intellectual Property Office, Patent 493081

  • The Bitumount site became overgrown in the years following its abandonment. Source: Historic Resources Management, DSC_1720

    Bitumount plant is sold, but no significant development occurs and it is finally abandoned in 1958.

    The Bitumount site became overgrown in the years following its abandonment.
    Source: Historic Resources Management, DSC_1720

  • Sign at the Bitumount site, 1980s, Source: Historic Resources Management, DSC_5896

    Bitumount is designated a Provincial Historic Resource.

    Sign at the Bitumount site, 1980s
    Source: Historic Resources Management, DSC_5896

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Summer on the River

The largest vessels to ply the Athabasca were paddle-wheelers, like the SS Athabasca, owned by the Hudson’s Bay Company. These ships were similar to the type familiar from large American rivers such as the Mississippi. They were powered by steam engines and used wood for fuel. Stacks of cordwood were cut and left in large piles at strategic points along the river. By the end of World War II, the paddle-wheelers had given way to propeller-driven boats with diesel engines that pushed flat-bottomed barges. Canoes were a common and convenient way to get around on the river.

An extraordinary sight on the river was the push-prop boat Robert Fitzsimmons ordered from an American boat-builder.

Its design, with a shallow draft and retractable keel, was well-adapted for the Athabasca River, allowing it to go almost anywhere without fear of running aground. Fitzsimmons claimed that this boat was “capable of covering the distance to rail head [at Waterways] during the summer months in less than two hours.” In addition, Fitzsimmons had an elegant motorboat, the Golden Slipper. When he left the International Bitumen Company Ltd. for good in 1944, it stayed behind at Bitumount, hauled out of the river near his house, and it is still there.

By the 1930s it was possible to fly to Bitumount. Planes equipped with pontoons could land on the Athabasca River once the ice had gone.

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