The small town of Turner Valley, just 63 kilometres southwest of Calgary, has a history steeped in the petroleum industry, with the development of Canada’s first commercial oilfield that triggered Alberta’s first oil boom in 1914.

This is a historical look at how it all happened:

William Stewart Herron has been referred to as the “Father of Alberta’s Petroleum Industry.” Herron was an Ontario native who spent time in the Pennsylvania oilfields. In 1905, he and his wife relocated to Alberta and bought a ranch in the Okotoks area. To supplement the ranch income, he started a freight and cartage business, mainly...