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Frank Slide
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Frank Slide
The Frank Slide was a massive rockslide that buried part of the mining town of Frank in the District of Alberta of the North-West Territories, Canada, at 4:10 a.m. on April 29, 1903. Around 44 million cubic metres/110 million tonnes (120 million short tons) of limestone rock broke off from, and slid down, Turtle Mountain. Witnesses reported that within 100 seconds the rock reached up the opposing hills, obliterating the eastern edge of Frank, the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) line and parts of the coal mine. It was one of the largest landslides in Canadian history and remains the deadliest, as between 70 and 90 died, most of whom remain buried in the rubble. The cause of the slide is unknown but multiple factors may have helped cause the slide: Turtle Mountain's structural formation was unstable and had been for some time; coal mining operations may have weakened the mountain's internal structure; a wet winter and cold snap on the night of the disaster may have contributed.
The railway line was repaired within three weeks and the mine quickly reopened. The section of town closest to the mountain was relocated in 1911 amid fears of another slide. By 1906 the town's population nearly doubled its pre-slide population, but dwindled after the mine closed permanently in 1917.
The community is now part of the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass in the Province of Alberta and has a population around 200. The site of the disaster, which remains nearly unchanged since the slide, is a popular tourist destination. A designated provincial historic site of Alberta, it is home to an interpretive centre that receives over 100,000 visitors annually.
The town of Frank was founded in the southwestern corner of the District of Alberta (before it became the province of Alberta), a subdivision of the North-West Territories, in 1901. A location was chosen near the base of Turtle Mountain in the Crowsnest Pass, where coal had been discovered one year earlier. It was named after Henry Frank who, along with Samuel Gebo, owned the Canadian-American Coal and Coke Company, which operated the mine the town and its residents serviced. Frank and Gebo celebrated the founding of the town on September 10, 1901, with a gala opening that featured speeches from NWT leaders, sporting events, a dinner and tours of the mine and planned layout for the community. The CPR ran special trains that brought more than 1,400 people from neighbouring communities to celebrate the event. By April 1903, the permanent population had reached 600, and the town featured a two-storey school and four hotels.
Turtle Mountain stands immediately south of Frank. It consists of an older limestone layer folded over on top of softer materials such as shale and sandstone. Erosion had left the mountain with a steep overhang of its limestone layer. It had long been unstable; the Blackfoot and Kutenai peoples called it "the mountain that moves" and refused to camp in its vicinity. In the weeks leading up to the disaster, miners occasionally felt rumblings from within the mountain, while pressure created by shifting rock caused some timbers supporting the mine shafts to crack and splinter.
In the early morning hours of April 29, 1903, a freight train pulled out of the mine and was slowly making its way towards the townsite. At 4:10 am, the crew heard a deafening rumble behind them. The engineer immediately set the throttle to full speed ahead and sped his train to safety across the bridge over the Crowsnest River, just seconds before the bridge was destroyed.
Behind them, 30 million cubic metres of limestone rock with a mass of 110 million tonnes (121 million US tons) had broken off the peak of Turtle Mountain. The section that broke was 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) wide, 425 metres (1,394 ft) high and 150 metres (490 ft) deep. Witnesses to the disaster claimed it took about 100 seconds for the front of the slide to travel across the valley and reach up the opposing hills, indicating the mass of rock travelled at a speed of about 112 kilometres per hour (70 mph). The sound was heard as far away as Cochrane, over 200 kilometres (120 mi) north of Frank. It was thought the rockslide was triggered by an earthquake, volcanic eruption or explosion within the mine.
Initial reports on the disaster indicated that Frank had been "nearly wiped out" by the mountain's collapse. The majority of the town survived, but the slide buried buildings on the eastern outskirts of Frank. Seven cottages were destroyed, as were several businesses, the cemetery, a 2-kilometre (1.2 mi) stretch of road and railway tracks, and all of the mine's buildings.
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Frank Slide
The Frank Slide was a massive rockslide that buried part of the mining town of Frank in the District of Alberta of the North-West Territories, Canada, at 4:10 a.m. on April 29, 1903. Around 44 million cubic metres/110 million tonnes (120 million short tons) of limestone rock broke off from, and slid down, Turtle Mountain. Witnesses reported that within 100 seconds the rock reached up the opposing hills, obliterating the eastern edge of Frank, the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) line and parts of the coal mine. It was one of the largest landslides in Canadian history and remains the deadliest, as between 70 and 90 died, most of whom remain buried in the rubble. The cause of the slide is unknown but multiple factors may have helped cause the slide: Turtle Mountain's structural formation was unstable and had been for some time; coal mining operations may have weakened the mountain's internal structure; a wet winter and cold snap on the night of the disaster may have contributed.
The railway line was repaired within three weeks and the mine quickly reopened. The section of town closest to the mountain was relocated in 1911 amid fears of another slide. By 1906 the town's population nearly doubled its pre-slide population, but dwindled after the mine closed permanently in 1917.
The community is now part of the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass in the Province of Alberta and has a population around 200. The site of the disaster, which remains nearly unchanged since the slide, is a popular tourist destination. A designated provincial historic site of Alberta, it is home to an interpretive centre that receives over 100,000 visitors annually.
The town of Frank was founded in the southwestern corner of the District of Alberta (before it became the province of Alberta), a subdivision of the North-West Territories, in 1901. A location was chosen near the base of Turtle Mountain in the Crowsnest Pass, where coal had been discovered one year earlier. It was named after Henry Frank who, along with Samuel Gebo, owned the Canadian-American Coal and Coke Company, which operated the mine the town and its residents serviced. Frank and Gebo celebrated the founding of the town on September 10, 1901, with a gala opening that featured speeches from NWT leaders, sporting events, a dinner and tours of the mine and planned layout for the community. The CPR ran special trains that brought more than 1,400 people from neighbouring communities to celebrate the event. By April 1903, the permanent population had reached 600, and the town featured a two-storey school and four hotels.
Turtle Mountain stands immediately south of Frank. It consists of an older limestone layer folded over on top of softer materials such as shale and sandstone. Erosion had left the mountain with a steep overhang of its limestone layer. It had long been unstable; the Blackfoot and Kutenai peoples called it "the mountain that moves" and refused to camp in its vicinity. In the weeks leading up to the disaster, miners occasionally felt rumblings from within the mountain, while pressure created by shifting rock caused some timbers supporting the mine shafts to crack and splinter.
In the early morning hours of April 29, 1903, a freight train pulled out of the mine and was slowly making its way towards the townsite. At 4:10 am, the crew heard a deafening rumble behind them. The engineer immediately set the throttle to full speed ahead and sped his train to safety across the bridge over the Crowsnest River, just seconds before the bridge was destroyed.
Behind them, 30 million cubic metres of limestone rock with a mass of 110 million tonnes (121 million US tons) had broken off the peak of Turtle Mountain. The section that broke was 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) wide, 425 metres (1,394 ft) high and 150 metres (490 ft) deep. Witnesses to the disaster claimed it took about 100 seconds for the front of the slide to travel across the valley and reach up the opposing hills, indicating the mass of rock travelled at a speed of about 112 kilometres per hour (70 mph). The sound was heard as far away as Cochrane, over 200 kilometres (120 mi) north of Frank. It was thought the rockslide was triggered by an earthquake, volcanic eruption or explosion within the mine.
Initial reports on the disaster indicated that Frank had been "nearly wiped out" by the mountain's collapse. The majority of the town survived, but the slide buried buildings on the eastern outskirts of Frank. Seven cottages were destroyed, as were several businesses, the cemetery, a 2-kilometre (1.2 mi) stretch of road and railway tracks, and all of the mine's buildings.
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