The NCGS is a non-profit organization affiliated with the
Pacific Section of the American Association of Petroleum
Geologists (AAPG). We meet once a month, see Meetings. The
Society's objectives are to promote the scientific and
educational aspects of geology, to foster fellowship and
cooperation among earth scientists, to increase the public's
understanding of earth science applications in our daily lives,
to recognize the responsibilities of geoscientists to society,
and to promote honesty, integrity, and professional ethics in the
geoscience community.
May, 1999, marked the 55th anniversary of
the Northern California Geological Society, and nearly 25 years
since Ottmar Kotick, a Los Altos, California, consulting
geologist, wrote "A Short History of the Northern
California Geological Society" in the June, 1976 (Vol.
60, No. 6, pp. 988-992), AAPG Bulletin. As we begin the new
millenium, it seems appropriate to take time to reflect on the
origin of the NCGS.
It all started in May, 1944, at Foster’s
Bar in Rio Vista. A group of mudmen, roughnecks, and geologists
were "whooping it up" at this popular establishment
which provided an assortment of the fine spirits that were in
short supply during the War Years. Foster’s, it seems, was
deemed by most to be the best watering hole in the Sacramento
Valley. And it was here that charter members such as John Thomas,
Erwin Clark, G.C. Beckman, and Al Solari of Standard Oil; Don
Pinnell of Amerada; Eddie Simpson of Superior; Lowell Redwine and
Bill Beatty of Honolulu; and Milton Loy of Schlumberger founded
the Northern California Geological Society. Frank Bell was
elected the first Chairman and a basic organizational policy was
drawn up.
Initially, NCGS meetings were held in
Sacramento at the Little Theater-College from 8:30 to 11:30 p.m.,
or occasionally in Lodi and Rio Vista. The membership list from
this era showed 56 members, but only about twenty regularly
attended meetings. The going was tough at first, and minutes from
the October 19, 1945, meeting questioned whether the NCGS should
continue. Al Solari, the 1945 Chairman, tried repeatedly to get
the NCGS affiliated with the Pacific Section AAPG, but was so
unsuccessful that he eventually appealed to the AAPG President,
also to no avail.
In spite of this dour situation, NCGS
membership grew to 74 by February, 1946. The society’s first
big event was a field trip to the north slope of Mt. Diablo in
the late 1940’s, accompanied by a field guide prepared by
Earl Dillon, Cliff Church, Charlie Cross, and Al Solari. In the
late 1940's most geologists had left for the Cuyama and San Ardo
oil fields, and the NCGS moved its headquarters to San Francisco.
Charlie Cross’s reminiscences from this period (circa 1949)
indicate monthly meetings were held at the Engineer’s Club
in San Francisco. There was still no formal organization or
affiliation with the Pacific Section AAPG. Meeting notices were
mailed to members in Sacramento, Berkeley, Stanford, and other
Northern California cities that harbored interested geologists.
This format was replaced by Monday luncheon meetings with the
telephone duties falling on members’ secretaries. Christmas
gifts to those hard-working secretaries showed appreciation for
their role in keeping the NCGS alive. There would be occasional
dinner meetings when outstanding speakers were available, and
AAPG Distinguished Lecturers were invited to address the society
on a regular basis.
During 1949, 1950, and 1951 Daniel Pickrell
was Secretary-Treasurer. No one filled the President or
Vice-President positions at this time. Pickrell served as
Vice-President in 1952 and 1953, and was finally voted Chairman
in 1954, an office he proudly held that year. He was followed in
1955 by the first NCGS President, the late Gordon Oakeshott, who
spoke at the society’s 50th anniversary dinner celebration
in December, 1994. In the spring of 1954, the NCGS hosted an
enormous overnight field trip to the Rumsey Hills in Yolo County.
Fifty (!) automobiles transporting 225 persons were escorted to
points of interest by the California Highway Patrol. Brown
Drilling Company and Schlumberger provided a truckload of beer
and soft drinks, and the guidebook sold well for many years
thereafter.
Through January, 1954, the NCGS had no
affiliation with AAPG because it lacked a constitution and formal
by-laws. Using the Coast Society by-laws and the San Joaquin
Society constitution guidelines, these documents were drafted and
accepted by members on February 1, 1955. The Pacific Section
agreed to affiliation, and on April 5, 1955, set up a
"G" mailing list to notify NCGS members of meetings at
a cost of 3¢ a postcard. By November, 1955, luncheon meetings
were being held at Gino’s restaurant, Front and Clay
Streets, in San Francisco for $1.75 with tip. The Pacific Section
dues at this time were $2.50 per year. At this time two
publications were being offered for sale: the 1950 field trip
guidebook "North Mt. Diablo Monocline, Contra Costa County,
California" for $1.50, and the 1954 guidebook "Capay
Valley-Wilbur Springs, Westside Sacramento Valley" at $2.50
a copy. Most NCGS business was focused on the cost of
Distinguished Lecturers, publication sales, and keeping track of
member addresses (not much has changed in 45 years!). By
September, 1961, membership had reached 115.
In 1963, the NCGS began working with the
newly-founded American Institute of Professional Geologists
(AIPG) to introduce this organization to the San Francisco and
Sacramento areas. A key issue that year was California State
Senate Bill No. 1349, proposing registration of geologists.
However, the bill had been drafted in a fashion considered
counterproductive to the interests of the profession and was
strongly opposed by the NCGS, which otherwise favored some form
of state geological registration. The NCGS wrote the current
Pacific Section AAPG President, John Kilkenny, stating that the
bill did not recognize the role of geologists as earth
scientists, did not serve the interests of petroleum geologists,
and essentially confined the practice of geology to a legislated
title. Most geologists at that time wanted registration by a
self-regulatory mechanism.
Earthquake hazards were the main thrust of the
society in 1965. An NCGS Committee on Geologic and Earthquake
Hazards, Bay Area was established and chaired by Elmo Adams. Its
report was instrumental in the development of statewide
legislation contained in the Alquist-Priolo Geologic Hazard Zones
Act of 1972. The Act was published in the August, 1974, issue of
the California Real Estate Magazine.
The late 1960’s were lean years in
membership and attendance. A bight spot, however, was the
overwhelmingly successful Geological Seminar on the North Slope
of Alaska held February 2-3, 1970, in Palo Alto. This function
was presented by the USGS under the joint leadership of the
Pacific Section AAPG and the NCGS. It drew 678 participants from
22 states, Washington D.C., and five foreign nations. The NCGS
edited the proceedings for publication, and received a
fifty-fifty split of the $10 per copy proceeds with the Pacific
Section. This was followed by an NCGS-prepared bibliography of
San Joaquin Valley geologic literature in another even split of
profits with the Pacific Section. The revitalized NCGS grew to
about 200 members by 1974, and to 274 by April, 1975.
No formal chronicle of NCGS activities has
been written since Kotick’s 1976 Geologic Note in the AAPG
Bulletin. In recent years the society membership has undergone a
major shift in professional affiliation from petroleum geology to
the environmental field. One thing, however, has not changed, and
that is the unanimous interest of its members in the geosciences,
both pure and applied. And as one can infer from this narrative,
field trips were and still are a key focal point of the
organization. Recently, the organization has added family nights,
picnics, and an invitation to Bay Area earth science teachers to
join it in exploring Northern California’s geologic
treasures.
