Harry L. Brown papers, 1919-1973

Harry L. Brown (1877-1956) was a pioneer of oil shale development on Colorado's Western Slope. About 1920 he developed a retorting process for extracting oil from shale. He was a founder and principal investor in the Index Shale Oil Company which was incorporated in Colorado in 1920. Camp Index was built at the foot of Mt. Blaine in Garfield County, Colorado from 1920-1921 and began operation in 1921 using the Brown retort. The camp operated intermittently until 1938, when the machinery and equipment were sold to satisfy creditors. Index Shale Oil Company was dissolved in 1946.

Brown's wife, Penelope Chase Brown, was involved in many of the contracts, agreements, and mortgages related to the oil shale operations. His son, chemist Harry D. Brown (1912-1977), worked in the oil shale operation in the 1930s and later became interested in developing recycling processes and equipment in his Grand Junction, Colorado laboratory. Harry L. Brown's daughter, Penelope Eberhart Ulrey lived at Camp Index with her first husband in the 1930s.