The Edge of Destruction
In the early morning of April 29, 1903, approximately 82 million tonnes (30 million cubic metres) of limestone broke loose from Turtle Mountain and crashed into the valley below. The Frank Slide missed most of the town, but there were a few businesses, part of the mine surface plant, and a row of seven miners' cottages on the banks of Gold Creek that were destroyed. An estimated ninety people were killed, although only fourteen bodies were recovered at the time of the slide. During road realignment in 1922, additional human remains were discovered, probably members of the Clark family, and were reburied here.
In the early 1950s the Blairmore Lions Club initiated fundraising for a fitting monument for the 1922 burial. It was placed here in 1953 on the fiftieth anniversary of the Frank Slide, and five hundred people attended the unveiling, including government officials and 21 of the 23 known Slide survivors.
Gladys Ennis and her older brother Delbert were both Slide survivors. Only 15 months old when Turtle Mountain came down, Gladys was found choking in a pile of mud by her mother, Lucy Ennis. Gladys died in 1993 at the age of 91, the last survivor of the Frank Slide, and both she and Delbert chose to have their ashes scattered here.
The many stories of the Frank Slide are recounted at the Frank Slide Irlterpretive Centre.
Learn more about Crowsnest Heritage