[15], Several people, telling amazing stories to those who would listen, passed themselves off as the "sole survivor" in the years following the slide. Frank was home to over 600 residents. 1.5 km hiking trail through the rocks of the slide; Viewpoints and interpretive panels outside the Centre; School and Group Bookings. [49] The slide has formed the basis of other songs, including "How the Mountain Came Down" by Stompin' Tom Connors ,[50] and more recently, "Frank, AB" by The Rural Alberta Advantage. The avalanche took with it a coalmine entrance, two kilometres of railway, two ranches and part of Frank, NWT (now Alberta). The sheered mountain and a vast field of rubble are reminders of Canada's biggest rockslide. The section that broke was 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) wide, 425 metres (1,394 ft) high and 150 metres (490 ft) deep. Britain is expanding a coronavirus vaccination program that has seen more than 6 million people get the first of two doses — even as the country’s death toll in … The 2000 metre high mountain was thrust up from the Rocky Mountains 70 to 80 million years ago, overriding structurally weaker deposits of limestone and coal. The exhibits, narrated descriptions of the event, the history of the Crowsnest Pass area were terrific. The town was moved and life was restored. David Briffaut is having surgery after breaking his neck in an accident on a water slide in Spain. [37] Coal production at Frank peaked in 1910,[38] but the mine was permanently closed in 1917 after it became unprofitable. [8] GSC geologists concluded that the weather conditions that night likely triggered the slide. fitness column [5], Turtle Mountain stands immediately south of Frank. It was the first time the young girl remained away from home overnight. Lillian Clarke, 15, worked late at the hotel in Frank on April 28, so her employer offered her a room for the night. [17] They unsuccessfully tried to dig their way through the blocked entrance before one miner suggested he knew of a seam of coal that reached the surface. [11] The majority of the town survived, but the slide buried buildings on the eastern outskirts of Frank. Disaster has struck Crowsnest Pass in southwestern Alberta multiple times over the years. [19] Fifteen-year-old Lillian Clark, working a late shift that night in the town's boarding house, had been given permission to stay overnight for the first time. At least seven people were killed and three others are still missing following the Dec. 30 landslide in the village of Ask. The Frank Slide Interpretive Centre welcomes people from around the world, who want to come anytime of the year to learn from history. One of the trapped miners, Joseph Chapman, later recounted: I was one of the seventeen men in the mine when the fall took place. The CPR gave him a letter of commendation and a $25 cheque (approximately $750 in 2019) in recognition of his heroism. Gladys was the last survivor of the slide when she died in 1995 in Bellevue, Washington. Spain's death toll has surpassed China's, where the official number of … Today, the towns of Frank and Hillcrest lie in the shadow of the mountain that continues to move. Geologists speculated that the cold snap and rapid freezing resulted in expansion of the fissures, causing the limestone to break off and tumble down the mountain. UPDATE: 9 a.m. Canada's official COVID-19 death toll surpassed 20,000 today, after dozens of deaths were reported in Quebec and Ontario. Their stories say they wouldn't camp near it. [18] Only three men still had enough energy to continue digging when they broke through to the surface late in the afternoon. #4 The slide lasted around 90 to 100 seconds. It was one of the largest landslides in Canadian history and remains the deadliest, as between 70 and 90 of the town's residents were killed, most of whom remain buried in the rubble. Washington — to become tourist attractions. [13] She was the only member of her family to survive. I started to make down the manway. [26], Clearing the Canadian Pacific Railway line was of paramount importance. Nestled in incredibly beautiful mountain surroundings, the town of Frank was quickly becoming a booming mining town. Twenty-three very lucky people in cottages in the southeast edge of town survived the slide. Three had been outside the mine and were killed by the slide. On April 28th, the water in the mountain froze and the mountain that moves literally reached its breaking point. [8] One found his family alive and safe in a makeshift hospital, but another emerged to discover his wife and four children had died. Despite the legend that only one little girl survived the slide, in fact over two hundred of the town's three hundred inhabitants came out alive, and the town was only partly ruined References Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. The Diary of a Young Girl 2. I felt the concussion very severe. [1] Witnesses to the disaster claimed it took about 100 seconds for the slide to reach up the opposing hills, indicating the mass of rock travelled at a speed of about 112 kilometres per hour (70 mph). The state's death toll from the virus now stands at 971. Mining further compromised the unstable mountain. [38] Frank ceased to be an independent community in 1979 when it was amalgamated into the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass along with the neighbouring communities of Blairmore, Coleman, Hillcrest and Bellevue. Turtle Mountain let loose a rock slide of epic proportions 113 years ago which wiped out the small mining town of Frank, Alta., an area known today as Frank Slide. Part 4 - Aftermath. #7 Seventeen underground mine Her father was working outside the mine when the slide hit, while her mother and six siblings were buried in their home. At 4:10 am, 30 million cubic metres of limestone rock with a mass of 110 million tonnes (121 million US tons) broke off the peak of Turtle Mountain. This is the site of the Frank Slide of 1903, the deadliest landslide in Canadian history. [56] In 1978, a memorial plaque was erected. The section of town closest to the mountain was relocated in 1911 amid fears that another slide was possible. Lillian Clarke, 15, worked late at the hotel in Frank on April 28, so her employer offered her a room for the night. [35] Later studies suggested that the mountain had been at a point of "equilibrium"; even a small deformation such as that caused by the mine's existence would have helped trigger a slide. I was a top of number 8 manway, and I noticed that the air in the workings was forcing everything before it towards the outside of the mountain, and the coal began to fall, and threatened to close the same. To their amazement, they discovered that Charlie the horse, one of three who worked in the mine, had survived for over a month underground. Of the approximately 90 victims of the slide, only 18 have been recovered. [21] Through falling rocks and a dust cloud that impaired his visibility, Choquette ran for 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) to warn the oncoming locomotive of the danger. April was unusually warm, with snowmelt and rain running into the mountain fissures before the weather turned cold again. Around 110 million tonnes (120 million short tons) of limestone rock slid down Turtle Mountain. The section that broke was 1,000 metres (3… In, Bonikowsky, Laura Neilson, "Frank Slide: Canada's Deadliest Rockslide". Twelve bodies were pulled from the rubble in the days following the slide. BBC Homepage ... was "business-like and frank". [17] The opening was too dangerous to escape from due to falling rocks from above. But the hotel had new owners, people Amelia trusted, and so Lillian settled in for the night. There were 23 survivors, mostly children. [33] Miners noticed the mountain had become increasingly unstable in the months preceding the slide; they felt small tremors and the superintendent reported a "general squeeze" in the mountain at depths between 1,100 metres (3,600 ft) and 1,500 metres (4,900 ft). Lillian's mother, Amelia, had never trusted the hotel's previous owners and would never let her eldest child stay overnight, no matter how late she worked. [12], Approximately 100 people lived in the path of destruction, located between the CPR tracks and the river. The exhibits, narrated descriptions of the event, the history of the Crowsnest Pass area were terrific. The south peak is considered the most likely to fall; it would likely create a slide about one-sixth the size of the 1903 slide. Her father, Alfred, was working in the mine that night but stopped for lunch around 4:00. 192-194, "Ballad of the Frank Slide" (1 text, 1 tune) [11] In reality, there were 20 miners working the night shift at the time of the disaster. [9] At 4:10 am, 30 million cubic metres of limestone rock with a mass of 110 million tonnes (121 million US tons) broke off the peak of Turtle Mountain. Frank Slide, Alberta The Day the Mountain Fell. In. An interpretive guidebook to the trail is available from the Centre, which is open year-round, with notes corresponding to several concrete markers along the way. [10] The sound was heard as far away as Cochrane, over 200 kilometres (120 mi) north of Frank. The avalanche took with it a coalmine entrance, two kilometres of railway, two ranches and part of Frank, NWT (now Alberta). Unfortunately, I couldn't spend the time I would have liked to read about every exhibit amd view the videos because very few people wore masks or practiced physical distancing. The town's population nearly doubled its pre-slide population by 1906, but dwindled after the mine closed permanently in 1917. [8] Influencing the story was the survival of two-year-old Gladys Ennis, who was found outside her home in the mud. The site of the disaster, which remains nearly unchanged since the slide, is now a popular tourist destination. Pathway from the parking lot to the Centre is wheelchair accessible. [13] The death toll is uncertain; estimates range between 70[12] and 90. [58] The site receives over 100,000 tourist visits annually.[4]. The community of Frank NWT is obliterated on April 29, 1903 [4] It is the deadliest landslide in Canadian history[10] and was the largest until the Hope Slide in 1965. The Frank Slide was a massive rockslide that buried part of the mining town of Frank, North-West Territories,[nb 1] Canada, at 4:10 a.m. on April 29, 1903. [2] It was named after Henry Frank who, along with Samuel Gebo, owned the Canadian-American Coal and Coke Company, which operated the mine that the town was created to support. They found that coal broke from its seam; it was said to have practically mined itself. [27] Approximately 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) of the main line had been buried under the slide, along with part of an auxiliary line. [46] The bank—untouched by the slide—remained in the same location until it was demolished in 1911, after which the buried treasure legend arose. The community is now part of the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass in the Province of Alberta and has a population around 200. [34], Though the GSC concluded that mining activities contributed to the slide, the facility's owners disagreed. [30] A new study commissioned by the Dominion government determined that the cracks in the mountain continued to grow and that the risk of another slide remained. Seventy people were reported dead in the Frank Sentinel paper at the time of the slide. In the past 11 years, at least 16 people have died in traffic accidents in the Devil's Slide area; 11 of the deaths occurred when vehicles plunged off the cliff. By nightfall, only 12 bodies had been recovered and taken to the temporary morgue at the Frank schoolhouse. A mine horse was trapped underground for a month until found by miners. Several factors led to the Frank Slide. Thanks for contributing to The Canadian Encyclopedia. [8] Most of the victims remain entombed beneath the rocks; only 12 bodies were recovered in the immediate aftermath. The last survivor of the slide, she died in 1995. In 1826, the Willey Slide Tragedy turned the White Mountains into a tourist attraction. The province built a roadside turnout in 1941 to accommodate the traffic. Gladys Ennis, 27 months old, was found in the mud by her mother Lucy, who saved her baby's life by clearing the mud out of her nose and throat. [12] In total, 23 people in the path of the slide survived, in addition to the 17 miners who escaped from the tunnels under Turtle Mountain. [4][39] The mountain, continuously monitored for changes in stability, has been studied on numerous occasions. Bonikowsky, Laura Neilson. That story is untrue, but it is loosely grounded in fact. [51] The Frank Slide has been the subject of several books, both historical[52] and fictional. The crew of the freight train that arrived at Frank shortly before the disaster said it was the coldest night of the winter, with overnight temperatures falling below −18 Â°C (0 Â°F). It has been designated a Provincial Historic Site of Alberta and is home to an interpretive centre that receives over 100,000 visitors annually. [37] The entire town of Frank was claimed to have been buried, though much of the town itself was unscathed. Three little girls survived the slide. [32] Cracks laced the eastern face of the mountain while underground fissures allowed water to flow into the mountain's core. The engineer immediately set the throttle to full speed ahead and sped his train to safety across the bridge over the Crowsnest River. Thirteen hours after they were buried, all 17 men emerged from the mountain. Rockslide that buried part of Frank, North-West Territories, Canada, The town of Frank and Turtle Mountain on April 30, 1903, one day after the slide, "100th anniversary of Frank Slide disaster", "High-tech radar guards residents against disaster", "North America's deadliest landslide still poses questions—100 years later", "Every spring Turtle Mountain sends grim reminders of past", "The Rural Alberta Advantage take a breath", "Legislation introduced to unify Crowsnest area", "The Frank slide: a reexamination of the failure mechanism", "The 425m Landslide that Engulfed an Albertan Town" (2010), "Frank Slide a Century Later: The Turtle Mountain Monitoring Project", Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, Scandia Eastern Irrigation District Museum, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Frank_Slide&oldid=995535745, Natural disasters in the Northwest Territories, All Wikipedia articles written in Canadian English, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with deprecated sources from June 2020, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 21 December 2020, at 15:58. Though Frank recovered from the slide and achieved a peak population of 1,000 shortly thereafter, the closure of the mine resulted in a longstanding decline in population. Additional movement cracked the inverted "V" of the mountain peak, creating a conduit for water, opening fissures and gaps where water could settle and then, upon freezing, expand to create internal pressure. Their engineers claimed that the mine bore no responsibility. [6] The CPR had the line cleared and rebuilt within three weeks. Her sisters also survived; they were found unharmed under a collapsed ceiling joist. The slide lasted a mere 90 seconds but in that short time at least 90 people were killed and the southeastern corner of the coal mining town of Frank, Alta., disappeared. Those found were beneath shallow rubble — the rest are still buried under the rocks that killed … It was the first time the young girl remained away from home overnight. We arranged that those who were not c… [54] Town boosters unsuccessfully sought to have the site designated as a National Historic Site in 1958. The railway was repaired within three weeks and the mine was quickly reopened. Encouraged by their success, the miners cut a new shaft that broke through under an outcropping of rock that protected them from falling debris. [3] The pair celebrated the founding of the town on September 10, 1901, with a gala opening that featured speeches from territorial leaders, sporting events, a dinner and tours of the mine and planned layout for the community. Frank Slide – you can see the train tracks that run in the middle of the landslide. They reported that the slide had created two new peaks on the mountain and that the north peak, overlooking the town, was not in imminent danger of collapse. Signing up enhances your TCE experience with the ability to save items to your personal reading list, and access the interactive map. [12] All 12 men living at the CPR work camp were killed, but 128 more who were scheduled to move into the camp the day before the slide had not arrived—the train that was supposed to take them there from Morrissey, British Columbia, failed to pick them up. Multiple factors led to the slide: Turtle Mountain's formation left it in a constant state of instability. A ballad by Ed McCurdy featuring the story of Frankie Slide was popular in parts of Canada in the 1950s. It was later designated a Provincial Historic Site of Alberta. 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 when the crew heard a deafening rumble behind them. Governor Sununu slide about NH's vaccination phase 1B. The mule died when his rescuers overfed him on oats and brandy.[29]. Coal mining operations may have weakened the mountain's internal structure, as did a wet winter and cold snap on the night of the disaster. Contact the Centre by phone at 403-562-7388 or by email at [email protected] Accessibility. Unfortunately, I couldn't spend the time I would have liked to read about every exhibit amd view the videos because very few people wore masks or practiced physical distancing. Frank Slide. He and another miner were outside the mine when the deadly avalanche struck. [1] Witnesses reported that within 100 seconds the rock reached up the opposing hills, obliterating the eastern edge of Frank, the Canadian Pacific Railway line and the coal mine. Working a narrow tunnel in pairs and threes, they dug through the coal for hours as the air around them became increasingly toxic. Photo by … Covid news – live: Boris Johnson ‘deeply sorry for every life lost’ as UK death toll passes 100,000 Kris Boyson shares great ab workout and exclusive meal recipes in OK! It's been a hot summer, friction is terrible, but stuff still goes down! Anyone who has heard of the Frank Slide has heard of the baby girl, the only survivor, found on the boulder. [8], Early on April 30 a special train from Fort Macleod arrived with police officers and doctors. They were believed to be the Clark family, Lillian's mother and brothers and sisters. [37] The most common such tale is that of an infant girl said to have been the only survivor of the slide. [41] Over 80 monitoring stations have been placed on the face of the mountain to provide an early warning system for area residents in case of another slide. [36] The mine was quickly re-opened, even though rock continued to tumble down the mountain. The town's population not only recovered but grew; the 1906 census of the Canadian Prairies listed the population at 1,178. [12] Intent on reopening the mine, workers opened passageways to the old mine works by May 30. A museum and tourist stop document the Frank Slide and the region's coal mining history. The death toll in Spain rose to 4,089 on Thursday, up from 3,434 the previous day. ... Fiji cyclone death toll rises to 4 with 1 missing. [47] Crews building a new road through the pass in 1924 operated under police guard as it was believed they could unearth the supposedly buried bank. I enjoyed most of my visit to the Frank Slide Interpretative Centre. [3] By April 1903, the permanent population had reached 600,[4][deprecated source] and the town featured a two-storey school and four hotels. Lillian's mother and six siblings died in the slide. The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) ran special trains that brought over 1,400 people from neighbouring communities to celebrate the event. Share: ... Pandas slip and slide in … [8], 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 when the crew heard a deafening rumble behind them. The north-east face of Turtle Mountain was gone. [15], Initial news reports stated that between 50 and 60 men were within the mountain and had been buried with no hope of survival. In the aftermath of the slide, stories of survival were miraculous, and have generated at least one urban myth. The rest of their crew, though trapped in the mine, was able to dig out safely. The town of Frank was founded in the southwestern corner of the District of Alberta, a subdivision of the Northwest Territories in 1901. Fifteen-month old Marion Leitch was thrown from her house and found in a pile of hay, the one most likely to be the "boulder baby." [1] Geologists believe that another slide is inevitable, though not imminent. COVID-19 has killed more than 418,000 Americans in less than a year, and infections have continued to mount despite the introduction of a pair of vaccines late in 2020. [10], Numerous legends and misconceptions were spawned in the aftermath of the slide. Dan McKenzie was the first man to step out into daylight to see for the first time the horrendous devastation below.The magnitude of it caught his breath and raised a lump in his throat. I enjoyed most of my visit to the Frank Slide Interpretative Centre. [12] The skeletons of six additional victims were unearthed in 1924 by crews building a new road through the slide. [55] The provincial government designated the slide area a restricted development zone in 1976, which prevents alteration of the site. [7] In the weeks leading up to the disaster, miners occasionally felt rumblings from within the mountain, while the pressure created by the shifting rock sometimes caused the timbers supporting the mine shafts to crack and splinter. Fiji's Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama pointed to climate change as a cause of recent deadly storms. [4] Seven cottages were destroyed, as were several businesses, the cemetery, a 2-kilometre (1.2 mi) stretch of road and railroad tracks, and all of the mine's buildings. If you’ve ever driven through the Municipality of the Crowsnest Pass on the #3 Alberta Crowsnest Highway, chance are you’ll recall seeing a huge field of rubble on the east side of the road which appears to have fallen from the mountain on the left. It consists of an older limestone layer folded over on top of softer materials such as shale and sandstone. Turtle Mountain Frank Slide 1903 In a brief 100 ear-shattering, bone-jarring seconds, 76 people lost their lives, 23 were injured and 17 miners were trapped inside a mine shaft behind over 100 feet of rubble and stone. Of the town's approximately 600 inhabitants, nearly 100 were in the path of the avalanche, which took an estimated 70 lives, though the exact toll will never be known. Mooyaart Doubleday Cover artist - Helmut Salden Country - Netherlands Language - Dutch Subject - World War II Publication date 1947 Published in English 1952 Some residents believed that they had left Frank shortly before the slide, though there is no way to be certain. The Blackfoot and Kutenai people knew Turtle Mountain as "the mountain that moves." [47] [14] It is possible that the toll may have been higher, since as many as 50 transients had been camped at the base of the mountain while looking for work. Part 3 - Rescue. The engineer immediately set the throttle to full speed ahead and sped his train to safety across the bridge over the Crowsnest River. magnitude/volume death toll 12 million cubic meters 0 50 million cubic meters 25,000 30 million cubic meters 70 200,000 cubic meters 10 270 million cubic meters 2,500 7.6 million cubic meters 41 7.8 100,000 30 million cubic meters 2 The data shows death increased with volume and magnitude, but also other variables such as population size and location of the landslide affected the 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 … [20] The Spokane Flyer, a passenger train heading west from Lethbridge, was saved by CPR brakeman Sid Choquette, one of two men who rushed across the rock-strewn ground to warn the train that the track had been buried under the slide. Though new fissures had formed at the peak, they felt there was limited further risk to the town; nevertheless, the CPR's chief engineer felt that Frank was in imminent danger from another slide. [43] "Acoustic fluidization" is another theory, which suggests that large masses of material create seismic energy that reduces friction and causes the debris to flow down the mountain as though it is a fluid. [53], Curious sightseers flocked to the site of the slide within the day of the disaster. 70 – Frank Slide, Turtle Mountain (Alberta), April 29, 1903; 64 – Canadian Pacific Airlines Flight 402 (CP402) McDonnell Douglas DC-8-43 crashed on landing, Tokyo, Japan March 4, 1966; 63 – Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, January 8, 2020 [Canadian Victims Only may exclude some holders of Iranian passports ] In fact, because the bodies of most victims were never recovered, there has never been an exact number of victims established. [25] It has remained a popular tourist destination, in part due to its proximity to the Crowsnest Highway (Highway 3). [42], Geologists have debated about what caused the slide debris to travel the distance it did. [59] Frank is now home to about 200 residents. Our team will be reviewing your submission and get back to you with any further questions. There was more snow than usual during the winter of 1902-03. George Bond, a traveller who had stopped in Frank to spend the night before moving on, was asleep in the Union Hotel when the hotel began to suddenly twist and shake.His first thought was an earthquake, and, as soon as the building settled, he realized people would need help. [34], An unusually warm winter, with warm days and cold nights, was also a factor. [24] As a result, the evacuation order was lifted on May 10 and Frank's citizens returned. [6], Initial reports on the disaster indicated that Frank had been "nearly wiped out" by the mountain's collapse. Slide ; Viewpoints and Interpretive panels outside the mine was re-opened within weeks and region. Railway was repaired within three weeks ] [ 39 ] the Alberta Geological Survey operates state-of-the-art. 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