Turtle Mountain, Alberta is located in the southern section of the Rocky Mountains in Canada near the border of British Columbia. The nearby town of Frank was bustling due to the opening of a coal mine in 1901 at the base of the mountain.
Indian Legend of Turtle Mountain
In 1853, the Blackfoot Indians fought a battle with the Crow Indians at the base of Turtle Mountain. During the battle, large rocks fell off the mountain and killed 200 warriors. The mountain was named Turtle Mountain by the Crow Indians because they saw it moved slowly.
The Indians believed that the spirit Napi had chosen Turtle Mountain as his final resting place by climbing up the mountain and vanishing. This caused the Indians to proclaim peace in the valley forever.
When town founder H.L Frank began bickering with other residents, the Chief in the local tribe said that there would be problems in the valley if peace was broken.
Cause of the Frank Slide on Turtle Mountain
The base of Turtle Mountain consists of coal plus rock fragments known as clastics. The surface of the mountain is folded limestone and dolomite. Over many centuries, water seeping through fissures into the base rock made it unstable.
The east face of Turtle Mountain gave way and sent large slabs of rock tumbling into the valley on April 29, 1903 at 4:10am.
According to Alberta’s Frank Slide Interpretative Centre, “the dimensions of the rock mass that fell were 150 metres (500 feet) deep, 425 metres (1,400 feet) high and one kilometre (3,280 feet) wide”.
The rock slid 2,300 feet down the eastern slope of the mountain and the valley floor was covered with almost two square miles of rock.
Damage Caused by the Frank Slide on Turtle Mountain
The landslide blocked the Crowsnest River and formed a lake. Bridges across Gold Creek and Old Man River were washed out.
- Approximately two miles of the Canadian Pacific Railway track was buried. The railway was back in operation a month later.
- The entrance to the coal mine was completely blocked. Seventeen miners managed to dig themselves out of a tunnel within a day.
- Seven houses on the outside of town were buried. Several outbuildings were destroyed and many tents that provided temporary housing were wiped out.
- The town’s power plant was smothered as well as the cemetery. A construction camp and a boxcar filled with dynamite were immediately covered.
- There were 76 people killed and 24 people survived in the path of the landslide. Only 12 bodies were recovered. In 1922, the remains of seven people were unearthed by a road construction crew.
The Aftermath of the Frank Slide on Turtle Mountain
Geology teams continued to monitor Turtle Mountain. Due to instability of the mountain, the Government of Alberta ordered the closure of the south part of Frank in 1911.
From 2003 to 2005, a large project took place to monitor and the movement of Turtle Mountain. In 2005, a permanent monitoring station was built and over 40 sensors were installed on the mountain.
The Alberta Geological Survey states their purpose for building the monitoring station:
“The first priority is to provide early warning to residents of the potential for a second catastrophic rock avalanche. The secondary priority is to create a field laboratory for the research community to test and develop instruments and monitoring technologies to better understand the mechanics of slowly moving rock masses.”
In 1985, the Frank Slide Interpretive Centre was opened and it offers education programs and exhibits commemorating the slide.
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