The presence of coal in the central part of the state was known at an early date. Nevertheless, the only mines were "wagon mines," small single person or family run affairs providing coal only for local use. Large scale commercial mining, however, was not possible until the coming of railroads. Shortly after the turn of the Twentieth Century, the Burlington pushed into the central part of the state from the north and the Chicago and Northwestern from Casper. Hudson, located midway between Riverton and Lander, traces its history to the development of the two Poposia Mines by J. C. Hickey associated with the Chicago and Northwestern.

The town of Frank in the Province of Alberta, Canada was, however the most famous coal camp established by Sam Gebo. Its fame was achieved as a result of a tragedy. The tragedy ultimately caused the financial undoing of Sam Gebo. Frank was established in 1901, and was named after Gebo's partner in the Canadian-American Coal and Coke Company, Henry Lupin Frank from Butte, Mont. It was the first coal camp on the eastern side of the continental divide in the province. Sam Gebo moved with his family to Blairmore, a town three miles from Frank. In late April 1903, there were several days of rain in Frank, followed by a freeze. H. L. Frank, himself, was absent from the scene. He was in Paris attempting to sell the venture to a French consortium for $1,500,000.00. The mine was in a mountain known to the whites as "Turtle Mountain" and to the Indians as the "Mountain that Walks." The mine was regarded as more profitable than many other mines because its rooms along the face were larger than normal. There were fewer pillers. Thus, more coal could be recovered. In the mine, the miners became acclimated to frequent tremors that shook the mine. Indeed, the tremors made the work easier. The tremors would knock the coal off the face so all that was required would be to shovel the coal into the trams.

In the early morning hours of April 29, a night crew was working the face. On the edge of the sleeping town was the home of the Alexander Leitch family. Alexander, his wife Rosemary, and the seven children, four boys and three girls, were fast asleep in their beds. On the Canadian Pacific, the Spokane Flyer was overdue, delayed by snow. A freight train idled on a siding, awaiting the Flyer which had priority. About a mile down from the town near the Canadian Pacific tracks was the Poupoure and McVeigh Construction Camp. The general manager, John McVeigh, was in camp. In the livery were Robert Watt and Francis Rochette. Watt had declined an invitation to stay in the Imperial Hotel that night.

At 4:10 a.m. a large tremor shook the mine. Rock fell from the ceiling and coal from the face. Some of the men ran towards the portal, outside of which three men loitered. In the Union Hotel, guests were thrown from their beds by the force of what was regarded as perhaps an explosion in the mine. A hundred miles away, a sound similar to that of a distant cannon was heard. The engineer of the freight hearing a rumble and fearful of a landslide, placed the locomotive on full steam and crossed the bridge just before the bridge was swept away. At 4:10 a.m., a 1/2 square mile of the mountain slid away, carrying an estimated 90,000,000 tons of lime stone down the valley. The lime stone swept away the Leitch house, the livery, the power plant, the tipple, the fan house, 5000 ft. of Canadian Pacific track, covered the portal to the mine and buried the construction camp under an estimated 20 to 100 feet of rock. Other houses, knocked off their foundations, caught fire. At the end of 100 seconds, there were an estimated 76 dead. The number actually killed will never be known, only 12 bodies were ever recovered. The lists of the dead included only those known to be in town. Those in the mine who fled toward the portal were killed. Those who stayed were saved only to find themselves trapped. The miners had to dig a new shaft themselves inorder to get out. Outside, the conductor of the freight and the brakeman, Sid Choquette, began climbing over a mountain of rock. The conductor gave up in the face of rocks the size of houses. Choquette persevered and arrived on the other side just in time to flag down the Flyer. The miners within the mine cut a new shaft themselves to escape. Alexander Leitch, his wife and four boys were killed. In the arms of her dead mother, the youngest of the three girls was found unharmed. The other two daughters were found alive, both some distance from the remains of the house, one on a rock, the other on a bed of hay. Perhaps understandably, the French reneged on the agreement to purchase the mine.

Efforts to resurrect the mine at first seemed to succeed, but the slide backed up the river and began to flood the mine. With the financial stress, H. L. Frank was dead by 1908. In 1909, Sam Gebo was indicted for filing false land claims with regard to acquisition of Wyoming mineral lands. By 1912, Gebo's company was in liquidation. Banks and other creditors, including the 1st National Bank of Thermopolis, the State Savings Bank of Butte, and the Meyers & Chapman State Bank, like so many prairie wolves, fought over Sam Gebo's financial carcass. In 1913, Gebo left the United States for Guatemala where he developed a marble quarry. After pleading guilty to the federal charges and paying a $1,500 fine, Sam Gebo returned to the United States.

On July 10, 1940, in Seattle, Washington, Sam Gebo apparently committed suicide using his gas kitchen oven. Five monthly later, his wife drowned. With an adverse geological report that the mountain might again walk, the town of Frank was essentially abandoned by 1917. One business, known as the "brick house," survived. The brick house was inhabited by damsels of the evening. It ultimately closed and became a target for graffiti. Apparently an embarrassment to the Dominion, it was razed in 1976 as a part of the centennial celebration of the formation of the Canadian Confederation.

Next page, Cambria.