The Best of Butte, Montana: Mining and History
Butte, Montana has much to offer in interesting attractions for causualtourists and history aficionados alike. The city began as a mining camp primarily based upon gold and silver mining. After the advent of electricity, copper became a valuable commodity, as did Butte’s vast deposits of the metal. Butte soon became known as ‘The Richest Hill on Earth’, and produced the larger portion of copper in the United States during its mining period. When the Anaconda Copper Company opened the Berkley Pitt and began strip mining for copper, the age of underground mining, and eventually mining in general, in Butte wained. In 1983, Butte suffered a serious economic blow when the ACM closed the Berkley Pitt and all mining operations. Despite the opening of a new strip-mining operation, Butte fell on hard times. With recent economic boons and the hard work Butte people are known for, Butte is experiencing a revival of sorts.
Butte’s uptown is rich with history, and guided walking tours offered by Old Butte Historical Adventures http://www.buttetours.info/ occur daily to visit some of the Uptown’s intriguing sites, including authentic speak-easys, offices, and barber shops all recently discovered in moth-balled condition. Nearby is the Dumas Brothel, housing the history of the purportedly longest-running house-of-ill-repute in the history of the United States. The historic Finlen Hotel http://www.finlen.com/ , with its recently restored lobby, is likewise an impressive structure not to be missed.
The Copper King Mansion http://www.thecopperkingmansion.com/ stands among Butte’s attractions as an impressive, once proud home of one of Butte’s most prominent citizens, William A. Clark. Clark belonged to a trio of powerful men known as the Copper Kings who once owned the bulk of the mining interests in Butte. This mansion gives daily tours during the summer season and offers a bed and breakfast where you can experience some of the glory of a Copper King. Not far atall from the Copper King Mansion is another fantastic mansion called the Art Chateau. Built by Clark as a wedding present for his son, this mansion is now an attractive art gallery. The neighborhood is filled with historic houses and mansions,and is worthy of a leisurely stroll along its streets.
After visiting the gorgeous and historic Montana School of Technology campus, you can travel behind it to the intriguing World Museum of Mining http://www.miningmuseum.org/ . Built in and around the mineyard of the Orphan Girl Mine, the museum boasts an authentic replica of a mining town dubbed Hell Roarin’ Gulch. It also has a hoist-house (where the machinery for the elevators goign into the mine still rests today) filled with antiques and historic memorabilia. The Orphan Girl gallows frame (an enormous structure resembling an oil derrick used for the mine’s elevators) stands as a centerpiece for the museum. Overlooking Butte is a statue of Mary called Our Lady of the Rockies http://www.ourladyoftherockies.org/ . This impressive image compares favorably in size and majesty to the Statue of Liberty in New York.
Another feature is the Berkley Pitt. The open-pit mine once produced thousands of tons of copper ore every year. Now, the pit is filling with toxic ground water and has the ingnominious distinction of being one of the largest superfund sites in the United States. Still, there is a viewing center and it is impressive, if perhaps embarrassing.
The depths of Butte’s history have only begun to be mined, and it’s unique distinctions are many. These are just a few ways to dig into Butte’s past, which, like the city’s erstwhile motto, is ‘a mile high, and a mile deep’. To find out more about tours and attractions, stop in at the Butte Chamber of Commerce or visit their website at http://www.butteinfo.org/ .
