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The discovery of oil in Prudhoe Bay is well-known to most Alaskans. While it wasn’t the first discovery of the lifeblood of American transportation in the 49th state, it was huge, a field so big it was inconceivable to most geologists and oil exploration companies. Younger Alaskans have cut their teeth on the story — how ARCO and its partners drilled 14 wells, each one coming up dry. The 15th, Prudhoe Bay State No. 1, was the gusher, and Alaska’s history was rewritten.

John M. Sweet was there, and he tells the story of the discovery of Prudhoe Bay and the men who took huge financial and other risks to find a commercially viable oil field and get it up and running. In “Discovery at Prudhoe Bay: Oil,” Sweet takes on the familiar tale, starting with early geologic exploration and continuing to today, even pondering the future.

Sweet was a geologist with ARCO, formerly the Atlantic Richfield Company. He knew the “mountain men” with the “seismic vision” who were at the heart of the discovery. It’s an interesting tale.

It’s been known, according to Sweet, that Alaska sat over oil for more than 100 years. Oil seepages near Barrow, probably oozing for centuries, were the first sign. The U.S. Geological Survey got wind of them around 1910. “These seep features were an open invitation to the first geologist who learned about them because in his mind’s eye he postulated that they leaked from an oil accumulation from within the bowels of mother earth.” Geologists had been surveying Alaska for about 10 years, following the gold seekers down the rivers, mapping the heretofore unknown features of the area. Frank Schrader took seven men down the Koyukuk in 1901, using the same route the U.S. Navy followed in 1893 in their initial exploration of Alaska.

Transporting their supplies and equipment via boat and dog team, these first exploring geologists made crude maps and guesses about what seismic forces might have created this rugged landscape, and more importantly, what was underneath the tundra that was worth exploiting.

It was a dangerous trip, fraught with mishaps, lack of food, unpredictable weather and endless vistas of empty sky. There was little time for side excursions, and the science they did was basic and crude. But it was a start. They charted topography and geology and collected samples.

Naval Petroleum Reserve 4 was first explored in 1926, but it wasn’t until after World War II, when the United States realized how important oil was to their economy and survival, and how vulnerable their supply was, that the search in Alaska began in earnest. Commercial exploitation kicked off in 1957 when Richfield discovered the Swanson River Oil Field on the Kenai Peninsula. This was a major field, major in the oil business indicating a field which produces anything over 100 million barrels – Swanson has produced about 225 million barrels of oil, according to Sweet.

“Prudhoe Bay in 1957 was not even in any oil geologists vocabulary,” he reminds us. It took many years, but the geologists slowly moved north, eventually finding promise in the far north of the farthest north state.

Sweet writes of the history of the commercial exploration, and has a good grasp of the ins-and-outs of the early oil companies. He discusses the partnerships, the mergers, the lease sales, and of course, the 14 wells sunk — at great expense — and came up empty.

He also recounts how, once it was established that there was oil, and enough to justify building the pipeline and other infrastructure, the logistics and challenges of building an oil pipeline in ground that is not only potentially seismically active, but also riddled with permafrost. The engineers had to create a whole new way of building and transporting oil to ensure the integrity of the structure and the safety of the environment.

Sweet is a geologist by training, so this book is heavy on geology. It’s sometimes difficult for the non-rockhound reader to follow. Lots of geologic terms and explanations went over my head — and I work with geologists. The average lay reader may find it difficult to follow some of the lecture-tone sections, although he does attempt to explain some general geology and oil science, using simple words and analogies.

Sweet imbues the book and the events he recounts with a deep sense of respect for the rocks and soil which make up the land. He obviously knows his science and loves his subject, and it comes through.

“Geologists have an overpowering love affair with the unknowns in the guts of Mother Earth. An insatiable spirit is kindled and sparked to flames of passion when optimism and enthusiasm fuel it.” And you thought they were just looking for rocks!

Sweet doesn’t just concentrate on rocks, however. He spends considerable time talking about three historic events that had significant impacts on the pipeline: the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969; the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971; and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act in 1973. While none of the events stopped the pipeline, they did delay it significantly, and put the oil companies under the glare of public scrutiny, which they don’t always enjoy.

The book is filled with statistics on construction, operation, flow, size, and transport. Sweet also projects the future of the Prudhoe Bay field, estimating its demise in 2010 or 2020. And as should be expected form an oil company employee, he advises drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Range to boost our supplies.

What comes through throughout the book is the awe all those involved in the discovery felt. Sweet uses the phrase “beyond our experience” numerous times. Discovering the Prudhoe Bay oil fields was a “once-in-a-lifetime” experience, something most geologists only dream of.

Sweet quotes Hal Peyton, of the University of Alaska, a structural and civil engineer who worked on the pipeline, to make his point: “It’s been a first of a kind project in every sense — trying to build a project in the far north, with its technical and constructing problems, and the complexity of trying to convey to people … how to design and construct there … The utter sheer size of the project … Until you’ve lived with it a long time, you (really) don’t being to comprehend how massive it is.”

Libbie Martin is a local freelance writer. She lives in Fairbanks.