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Phillips geologist revisits 1954 summer in Alaska Geologist recalls a non-typical day in the life of a surface geologist in the Katalla-Yakataga region Jen Ransom PNA Staff Writer
Charles Betton was one of the few lucky geologists chosen for the surface exploration project group that explored Phillips Petroleum Co.’s 1 million acres of federal leases in the Katalla-Yakataga region of Alaska in 1954 for potential sources of oil.
Betton’s job was to provide adequate background on the rock formations in the Katalla area, by use of field exploration and aerial photography, in order to determine the best areas for Phillips to begin drilling. The group used USGS maps of the area to recheck the geological structures of the area, which were extremely complex.
“We checked weathered beds which were upside-down,” said Betton. “There was lots of folding, which could influence what we were looking at.”
This was not the first time that oil exploration and drilling had occurred in the Katalla-Yakataga region. More than 50 wells had been drilled in the area between 1901 and 1932. Of those wells, approximately 18 produced oil at Katalla. An oil refinery built in near the Katalla field refined the crude, which was then poured into wooden barrels and transported via horse-drawn railway about a mile to the Katalla wharf. They were then shipped to Cordova, where the oil was used in Copper River Railway locomotives as a lubricant.
In 1933, Katalla’s refinery burned and oil production ceased until Phillips and partner Kerr-McGee Oil Industries took interest in the 1950s.
Betton was part of the second team to visit the Katalla-Yakataga region through Phillips. In 1953, another group of surface exploration geologists headed to Alaska.
Betton was a field geologist in the Katalla camp. The exploration party arrived in May of 1954, and, according to Betton, lived in a rather upscale camp for the time period.
Precut and assembled on site, the prefab cabins were 16 foot squared plywood tents that housed four men each. The camp included shower and bathing facilities, larger tents for eating and cooking facilities and the camp headquarters, where the radio, filing system and material were located. Along with the geologists, a camp cook, helicopter pilot, mechanic and guides all lived in the camp, located on the banks of the Katalla River. Camp cozy, but Gulf of Alaska area wet Betton said that the geologic work was done during the breaks of the bad weather.
“We had three-sixer-niners in the way of storms,” said Betton in a recent phone interview. “These storms came in and lasted either three, six or nine days; we just had to sit in the clouds and rain and work on notes, waiting.”
Once the storms broke, however, groups of two to four geologists covered two to three outcrop areas a day, making use of the helicopter. Garbed in hip boots, tin coat and pants (a type of heavy duty waterproof raingear used by loggers), netted headgear and goatskin gloves, the surface exploration team would land a top one of the mountains, then use the natural “elevator” to cover the surface of the mountain on the trip back down.
The trip down included a lot of creek wading and bushwhacking, although the first 500 to 1,000 feet down was usually vegetation free.
The party also carried rifles, and Betton recalled one time that they unexpectedly met up with a bear.
“We had to use a rifle to scare him off,” said Betton. “He ran and we ran and everybody got away.”
Other close encounters with the ever-present bears included bear prints on the helicopter bubble and a crushed five-gallon tank of gasoline. Betton said the can was crushed like a paper bag. Seeps do not equal good reservoirs Each evening the groups would be picked up at a pre-chosen spot and returned home to camp to eat, shower and regroup before the next day. The camp was supplied by a light plane, which flew out of Cordova weekly to land on a curved beach.
But one particular evening the surface exploration team had to rough it overnight. The helicopter batteries died and the geologists and pilot sat patiently, waiting for a battery drop from one of the camps smaller planes. Unfortunately, the force of the fall crushed the battery, but the tent, food and cooking supplies were much appreciated, according to Betton.
“They dropped a can of sardines from about 100 feet up,” said Betton. “The force of the fall impacted the key (to open the can) into the can lid like it had been hammered in.”
Betton kept the can as a souvenir for more than 20 years, too afraid to open it.
Some of the food made it down safely, however, and the crew waited it out until the next morning, when the helicopter from the Yakataga camp brought a spare battery.
The team returned to the states in September with a report of plenty of oil seeps but not necessarily great reservoir quality. Betton is now retired and is residing in the state of Colorado.
Editor’s note: If you have information on Phillips’ first 50 years in Alaska, please contact PNA Publisher Kay Cashman at [email protected] or call 907 245-2297.
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