Discover the History of the Crowsnest Pass

Five must-see destinations that give the area its unique character

The Crowsnest Pass is found along the Rocky Mountains of southwest Alberta, about 260 km (160 mi) from Calgary. Stunning scenery is around every corner in this off-the-beaten-path gem. But if you dig a little deeper, you’ll find some fascinating stories of rum-running gangs, hard-working miners and the eerie remains of a landslide.

Burmis Tree

You can’t miss the Burmis Tree. The twisted branches are completely bare, and the famous tree stands proudly atop a small rise. It’s right near the Crowsnest Highway, so it’s a quick detour to pull over and snap a few photos.

The Burmis Tree is a Limber Pine, a hardy species that can thrive in harsh temperatures. The tree died in the late 1970s, and it’s said to have lived for around 700 years. But high winds toppled the tree in 1998. The local community came to its rescue and decided to save it with the help of a local provincial historic site preservation group. It was secured with brackets and steel rods. All was well until 2004 when vandals cut off one of the Burmis Tree’s centrepiece branches. Undeterred, the community fastened it to its rightful place with glue and a prop pole.

Frank Slide

Ninety seconds. That’s all the time it took for a landslide to bury part of a town. On April 29, 1903, a portion of Turtle Mountain, which towered above the mining town of Frank, broke loose and sent about 100 million tonnes of limestone hurtling towards the small community. The Frank Slide is still recognized as one of the largest landslides in Canadian history—and one of the deadliest. As many as 80 people lost their lives in the disaster and remain buried in the rubble to this day.

What caused a slide of this magnitude? A number of factors. For starters, the geologic formation of Turtle Mountain leaves it in a perpetually unstable state. Add a coal mining operation that further weakened the mountain, plus a cold snap, and it was a recipe for disaster.

It only took a few short weeks for the railway and mine to get back up and running after the slide, and the section of the town closest to the mountain relocated to be on the safe side. Frank is now part of the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass, but the slide’s impact remains on full display. You can’t miss the long scar down the face of Turtle Mountain, and a field of car-sized boulders covers both sides of the highway. It’s a sombre, eerie reminder of the force and unpredictability of nature. If you want a closer look, take the time to visit the Frank Slide Interpretive Centre to learn more about the disaster and walk the trail through the aftermath.

Hillcrest Mine disaster

This area is known for another infamous catastrophe. The Hillcrest mine disaster, considered the worst of its kind in Canadian history, occurred nine years after the Frank Slide. On June 19, 1914, an explosion tore through the Hillcrest mine and burst through its entry points. There were 237 men on shift that day and only 48 were rescued.

The explosion greatly impacted the town of Hillcrest, which only had a population of 1,000 people in 1914. It also devastated the mine's workforce and the workers' families. Word of the disaster spread across Canada, and condolences were even sent from King George V. The mine was officially closed on December 2, 1939.

The Hillcrest mine disaster joins a list of eight other deadly coal mine explosions in the area: Coal Creek (1902, 1917), Michel (1904, 1916 and 1938), Bellevue (1910) and Coleman (1907 and 1926).

The Hillcrest Mine Disaster Cemetery and Memorial, located at the north end of the Hillcrest community, is open to the public. It includes an interpretive walk and the Hillcrest Mine Disaster Millennium Memorial that was built in 2000. The memorial features a central monolith surrounded by monuments cut from stone that originates from each Canadian province and territory.

Rumrunning

Alberta was once a dry province. The hammer came down on the province's alcohol consumption in 1916 and ushered in a prohibition that lasted until 1923. Of course, those who opposed prohibition found ways to drink and sell alcohol anyways. Black-market alcohol began trickling into the Crownest Pass at a steady pace thanks to “rumrunners.” These people brought illegal alcohol into the community—largely to satisfy the thirst of hard-working miners. Rumrunning was a competitive and dangerous business and tangles with the law were all-too common.

A cast of characters from the Pass's rum-running days reads like the plot of a gangster movie. Emilio Picarriello was known as the “Bottle King of The Pass.” His most famous accomplice was Filumena Costanzo Lassandro, who at the age of 15 married a local businessman, Charles Lassandro, also part of Picarriello's gang. With the help of Picariello's crew, Filumena and Charles smuggled plenty of alcohol into the Crowsnest Pass.

On a fateful night, Filumena helped Picarriello carry out the murder of Stephen Lawson, an Alberta Provincial Police Officer and prohibition enforcer. The two were eventually tried and put to death. Filumena's story lives on through a namesake opera and even a film that premiered in 2003. Be sure to stop by the Crowsnest Museum and Archives to take a deep dive into the area's history.

You'll then be ready for a bite to eat. Visit the family-friendly Rumrunner restaurant in Coleman to sample prohibition-themed burgers or The Pass Beer Co. for locally crafted brews and pizza and wings.

Leitch Collieries

Step into the fascinating mining past of the Crowsnest Pass at the Leitch Collieries Provincial Historic Site. Nearby walking trails, informative displays and ruins will give you a glimpse into the hard-working people who lived and worked here. This was also the only Canadian-owned and run coal operation at the time.

But fate dealt an unfortunate hand with labour unrest, waning demand for coal and financial hardship. From 1907 to 1915 it was known as Leitch Collieries Coal and Coke Company. A little background info: A colliery is a coal mining and processing plant, and all major mines in the Crowsnest Pass area had surface operators to clean and grade coal prior to shipping it on the railway. 

The "Coke" part of the name doesn't refer to the soft drink, either. Coke ovens fired up the coal to a point where it could burn and produce coke needed for the steel industry.

Collieries were massive operations in the area housed in stone, brick and wood structures complete with power-generating stations. The launch of the colliery in the early 1900s even established a settlement known as Passburg. Five hundred people called it home, and it grew to have a post office, school and its own businesses.

The mine operations in Passburg took a hit and couldn't recover, forcing the closure of the operations in 1915. The settlement soon followed suit and settlers sought new lives elsewhere. The last occupied house was moved to a nearby town in 1956.