In the early hours of April 29, 1903, a giant rockslide tumbled down Turtle Mountain and struck the town of Frank, burying a mine and killing more than 70 people.
Frank was one of a string of coal mining towns that emerged in the Crowsnest Pass region of what was then the Northwest Territories in the early 1900s (the Crowsnest Pass region now straddles the B.C./Alberta provincial border). Frank became a town in September of 1901, less than 2 years before the slide.
On April 29, 1903 at 4:10 am, Turtle Mountain came crashing down on the unsuspecting mining town. 30 million cubic metres of rock roared down the mountain in 90 seconds, killing more than 70 people in its wake.
In the moments after the slide, few had any idea what had happened. Most residents believed there had been an accident at the mine, due to the loud sound and history of mine explosions in the area. Once the situation was assessed, rescues started immediately, and a number of survivors were pulled from the rubble in varying states of injury, or more surprisingly, lack of injury.
The path of the slide missed the town of Frank itself, but buried the mine entrance and mine surface buildings, and destroyed a row of miner's houses. There was also an undetermined number of people camped at the base of the mountain, and at the livery stables. All these areas were destroyed in the slide.
Race to Stop the Train
The Canadian Pacific railway was also buried, along with communication lines to the east. Realizing there was a train due in less than 30 minutes, two brave brakemen raced the width of the slide, fighting the settling dust and almost complete darkness to stop the arriving train from slamming into a wall of rocks. One of the men tired and had to rest among the boulders, but the other man made it to the edge of the slide and managed to flag down the train, saving countless lives.
Miners Trapped
From inside the mine, the 17 men who had been on shift realized the severity of the situation quickly. The main mine entrance was blocked by the slide and water from the Old Man River (dammed by the slide) was pouring into the mine. The trapped miners initially began digging their way out toward the main mine entrance, but were discouraged by the slow progress. Eventually they chose to dig directly up through the coal face in the hope they could reach the surface.
The strategy worked. After 14 hours of hard work, the miners poked their heads through, several metres above the mine entrance where rescue teams were working. Only then did the miners get a look at what had happened to Frank and their homes.
What caused the Frank Slide?
The cause for the slide has long been debated. Many believe the coal mining operation lead to the slide, while others pin the cause on the unstable structure of the mountain itself -- lighter and softer sandstone and shale underneath heavier limestone. Still others point to the weather and cracked limestone near the top of the mountain. The weather that April had been unseasonably warm until the night of the slide when temperatures dropped quickly. This temperature drop would have caused melting water to re-freeze in the cracks near the top of Turtle Mountain, causing the crevices to expand.
All three are now accepted as combined causes for the slide.
Frank Today
Over a hundred years later the scar of the slide remains in the valley, covering 3 square kilometres. The Frank Slide Interpretive Centre was built in 1986 and remains open year-round offering Frank Slide facts, area history, coal mining history, multimedia presentations and more. There is a short interpretive hike through the rubble as well.
The town of Frank continues to flourish, though not in its original location. In 1911, a study declared Turtle Mountain was still unstable and ordered the town moved to a new location. Frank now sits northwest of the original site, still in the shadow of the slide.
