What now looks like a construction site used to be a town. 120 years ago part of Turtle mountain collapsed and buried at least 90 people, it was Canada's worst landslide disaster. We are in Crowsnest pass, the southernmost Rocky Mountain pass in Canada.
Because of how the mountain was formed with layers of limestone it was unstable, or an accident waiting to happen. Rockslides are common in these mountains, but building a town beneath such a spot is not common. The people who built here were only thinking about being closer to the coal mines they worked in. The area is blessed with an abundance of Natural resources and some thought this area would be the 'Pittsburgh' of Western Canada.
It's quite solemn to realize that hundreds of people used to live here. The ones working the nightshift in the mine were fine, it was the ones sleeping who were not. This is a cemetary, they haven't recovered all the bodies as they are buried under 82 million tons of rock. A highway and a train track pass through here, they are no longer stupid enough to allow housing to be built in such an area.
We visited the museum upon the site. Canada had its worst mining disaster in this area 11 years after Frank Slide, the Hillcrest Mining disaster. In the Hillcrest Mining explosion,189 people lost their lives when some natural gas ignited in the mine and blew it up taking all the oxygen with it. There's a lot to remember in the area and the museum recognizes the geography and the relatively dangerous mining methods back in the day.
Some kids were fishing in the river and they caught a rare intact T-Rex skull that was nicely preserved in the mud. This is a centerpiece of the museum. The coal seams were probably trees and vegetation when these beasts wandered the earth.
One can learn how tectonic movements of the Pacific and North American continental plates creates the relatively young Rocky Mountains 55-80 million years ago when the Pacific plates slid under the North American plates. These movements made limestone ridges be lifted tilted and exposed creating the danger that was to lead to the Frank Slide disaster.
The pass is quite serene, there are little mining towns and tourism thrives in the region. We watched a video where the Blackfoot natives said they would never camp at the base of Turtle mountain and couldn't believe European settlers built a town here. Ancient Legends referred to it as the mountain that moves.
There were hiking trails all throughout the area around the museum but it was too hot to go on a hike without shade. We were headed home from our trip to fernie and had already been on a hike that morning in a town on the other side of the pass in Fernie BC.
The town of Frank is in Alberta, there's the Albertan flag on the right next to a memorial stone to the disaster. People who had immigrated to these parts from mining towns throughout Europe lost their lives in the mining and natural disasters which occured in the area and are remembered for their sacrifice in helping to build the West.
All photos were taken with an s24 and are unfiltered
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Hiya, @ybanezkim26 here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Honorable Mentions in Travel Digest #2270.
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