Gold Trails and Ghost Towns: Frank

Episode 83: Frank, Alberta - A mountain cascaded down on this town in the night burying it forever, but there were survivors. Their remarkable stories are recalled.
The Frank Slide was a rock slide that buried part of the mining town of Frank, Alberta, Canada
at 4:10 am on April 29, 1903. Over 90 million tons of limestone rock slid down Turtle Mountain
within 100 seconds, obliterating the eastern edge of Frank, the Canadian Pacific Railway line
and the coal mine. 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. Multiple factors led to the slide: Turtle Mountain's formation left it in a constant
state of instability. 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.
The railway was repaired within three weeks and the mine was quickly reopened. The section of town
closest to the mountain was relocated in 1911 amid fears that another slide was possible. The town's
population nearly doubled its pre-slide population by 1906, but dwindled after the mine closed
permanently in 1917.