Franks Slide
Frank slide is Canada's 8th worst natural disaster due to the tragic landslide in 1903 that demolished part of the town killing more than 70 people in less than two minutes. There is little evidence on how or why the land slide even occurred.
Frank was a small town just outside of Crows Nest Pass Alberta. In the 1900s American interpreters Sam Gebo and Henry Frank created the first of many coal mines around Crows Nest Pass in the base of Turtle Mountain. In May (1900) the first buildings were built in frank, the news traveled fast about the mine and its riches . Many men and their families moved to frank in hope of getting a job in the mining industry. The grand opening of the town was on September 10 ,1901 it was an all day event people from all over Alberta came to enjoy the festival. Frank became the first incorporated town in Crows Nest Pass. In 1903 the town had served over 1000 people. The town had two dozen businesses/services a post office and a two story brick school. It was home to more than 600 people who all care and looked out for each other.
Happy and outgoing were only few words that could describe frank, but that all changed in the early morning of April 29, 1903 at 4:10 a.m. The ground began to shake and a loud blood curdling noise that sounded like a cannon being fired sliced through the air and thirty million cubic meters of limestone broke away from Turtle Mountain.
However the whole town was not destroyed only seven houses, a ranch some commercial buildings and two kilometers of the pacific railway. The entrance to the mine completely disappeared under the rock and 14 unlucky minors were trapped and dug their way to freedom with their lives. This event took less than two minutes and killed more than 70 people only 12 bodies were recovered no one has the heart to disrupt their final resting place to find the other bodies. The town was evacuated but a few short days later they were allowed back home. Life continued as it did before the slide but almost everyone was grieving over their lost family members, friends or even the stranger across the street.
If the 70 people who died in the landslide were all thirty and had two kids each imagine the effect on the population. Then their kids are thirty and have two kids of their own and so on and so forth there would be approximately 1000 more people in the world today if they didn’t die.
There is no evidence on why the limestone broke off of turtle mountain but there are a few explanations on why it did. It could have been do to the unstable structure, the mine in the base of the mountain or the drastic climate changes. Some think it was just bad luck but no one knows why for sure but they have theories.
After the slide Frank was a small residential community with few hints of its promising past. It was home to about 200 people. The mine and railway were back and operating in a month . Fears of a second slide led government to close the south end of the town in 1911. In the next seven years buildings were moved or torn down. In 1918 the mine was closed , the town was abandoned in 1928.
Frank was designated a provincial historical resource in 1977. In 1985 the interpretive center was built. The original town site is now an industrial park. You can still see pieces of wood and water pipes in some areas. When you drive down highway 3 near Crows Nest Pass Alberta after reading my report you should know why there are piles of gigantic boulders .Whatever you do when your there you shouldn’t take or even touch the rocks because that is considered disrespectful.
By: Kiana Wilson
Works Cited
"Alberta Folklore and Local History Collection." Alberta Folklore and Local History Collection. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Mar. 2011.
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"Alberta's Frank Slide Visitor Centre in the Canadian Rockies - Information & Location." Alberta's Frank Slide Visitor Centre in the Canadian Rockies. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Mar. 2011. .
"Frank Rockslide - Earth - SOS! Canadian Disasters - Library and Archives Canada." Welcome to the LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA website | Bienvenue au site Web BIBLIOTHÈQUE ET ARCHIVES CANADA. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Mar. 2011. .
"Frank Slide Newspaper Project." Black Gold Regional Schools. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Mar. 2011. .
"Frank Slide, Alberta - When a mountain fell on a town." Sympatico. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Mar. 2011. .
"Item Display - SOS! Canadian Disasters - Library and Archives Canada." Welcome to the LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA website | Bienvenue au site Web BIBLIOTHÈQUE ET ARCHIVES CANADA. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Mar. 2011. .
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Franks Slide
By: Kiana Wilson
