DISCOVERY OF THE PITCH LAKE AND ITS
USE
Pitch from the lake was used by many
people in our history, beginning with the Amerindians. Many
European explorers that visited Trinidad saw the Pitch Lake;
one such explorer was Robert Dudley who visited Trinidad three
months before the adventurous Sir Walter Raleigh.
The first records of the use of pitch
and its introduction to Europe was by Sir Walter Raleigh in
March of 1595. It is reported that he used it to caulk his leaking
ships and concluded it was “most excellent goode”. In 1617 on
another one of his voyages, he decided to return to England
via Trinidad, so that he could take back some samples of the
pitch.
Trinidad changed hands from the British
to the Spanish, and in 1792 the king of Spain, ordered the then
Governor, Don Jose Maria Chacon, to set up a refinery near to
the pitch lake. Five
years later Trinidad return to the British in 1797, so little
was accomplished. In 1805 the British requested Admiral Alexander
Cochrane to examine and report on the pitch lake. Cochrane,
one of the Earls of Dondonald, was not very enthusiastic about
his findings. He reported that the pitch had to be mixed with
tar and oil before it could be made useful.
In 1850, Thomas Cochrane, the tenth Earl
of Dondonald, leased lands in the pitch lake area, from the
government and began to experiment with pitch. At first Lord
Dondonald as he was better known, was interested in developing
pitch as a fuel for steamers, but that did not get him very
far. It was only when the young Conrad Frederick Stollmeyer
teamed up with him that the enterprise began to flourish. The
pitch was used in many ways, but chiefly as a covering for uneven
surfaces.
Following the success of the pitch business,
several other concerns obtained concessions to work the pitch
lake, but in 1888 the Government gave a single concession to
an American A. L Barber. Barber together with several other
businessmen formed the Trinidad Lake Asphalt Company. At that
point, asphalt was becoming a popular road covering, and with
the advent of motor traffic, became much in demand.
END
