Fonds F1629 - Pete Sanderson fonds

James Owen Gresham "Pete" Sanderson, 1898-1963, was born in Medicine Hat, Alberta to a ranching family. He received a BSc and MSc in geology from the University of Alberta and a PhD from the University of Toronto in 1928. During his university years he was employed in geological field work in the west and from 1928 to 1931 worked for Imperial Oil. He was a pioneer geologist at Turner Valley and the Brazeau field near Nordegg, Alberta. From 1933 to his death Sanderson operated as a consulting geologist in Calgary. He was a co-discoverer of potash in Saskatchewan in the 1940s and served as president and chairman of the Western Potash Corporation. He was active with numerous professional organizations. Between 1925 and 1946 he published a number of articles in geological journals. He married Jean Rutherford Bruce, 1905-1996, and they had one son, John Dunn Bruce. For further information see Guy Weadick's article, "Alberta Cowpoke turns Doctor" in Canadian Cattlemen. -- vol. 11, no. 4 (March 1949), p. 179, 182-183; M. B. B. Crockford “James Owen Gresham Sanderson, 1898-1963” Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology, volume 11, number 3, 1964, p. 322-323; and Joseph S. Irwin, “Memorial to James Owen Gresham Sanderson, 1898-1963” Proceedings of the Geological Society of America, 1964, p. 165-167.