Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents v
3. List of Figures and Tables vii
4. Introduction: “The Wildest Boom That Ever Hit the West” 1
5. 1 “Scientific Oil Finding:” Turner Valley’s Anticline 17
6. 2 “The Formation of These Companies . . . Should be Stopped:” Speculation and the Newspaper Feud 53
7. 3 “The Difference Between Poverty and Riches is Action!” Dreams and Reality of an Independent Oil Boom 93
8. 4 “I’m Going to Go Through With It Even if it Leads to Jail:” George E. Buck of Black Diamond Oil Fields 123
9. 5 “A City So Blessed Cannot be Checked:” Oil! . . . Sort of 145
10. 6 Reign of the Charlatans 189
11. 7 Boycotts, Consumer Protection, and Private Detectives: Responses to the Boom, from Voluntary Associations to the Pinkertons 215
12. 8 Reforming Self-Regulation: Taming the Brokers and the Calgary Stock Exchange 249
13. 9 Public Interest Versus Private Rights: Judge Alexander A. Carpenter’s Commission and the Big Boom’s Big Hangove 269
14. 10 “I am Not Going Back to Canada:” The Law Comes for Buck 295
15. 11 “A Matter of Public Concern:” The Lees Commission and Monarch Oil 339
16. 12 “The Most Important that has Ever Been Tried in the Province:” The Trial of George Buck 373
17. 13 “It is to be Regretted that Such a Scoundrel Should Escape Punishment:” Buck’s Appeals 397
18. 14 Conclusion: Buck and the Boom 419
19. Acknowledgements 427
20. Bibliography 431
21. Notes 445
22. Index 487