There is probably no singular circumstance or event which has attracted more world wide attention or brought Medicine Hat more notoriety than the discovery of natural gas beneath its surface. This resulted in the declaration made at the turn of the century, by a world renowned author and poet of the time, that Medicine Hat was “the town that was born lucky” and that it had “all hell for a basement”.
This is that story!
Hi, Bill!
Another great article! It was of particular interest to me, since it was my grandfather, Michael Crockford, who developed the Ajax Coal Mine. I can imagine grandpappy wasn’t happy to see the residents of Medicine Hat start to use gas rather than coal! On the other hand, perhaps he saw “The coal on the wall”, and got out of the mining biz before the change took place. I guess this is one of the many questions I should have asked my grandparents, but didn’t!