History Butte, Montana

1 history

1.1 history , immigrants
1.2 industrial expansion
1.3 anaconda copper , civil unrest
1.4 open-pit mining era
1.5 post-millennium

history

early history , immigrants

butte began mining camp in 1860s in silver bow creek valley (or summit valley), natural bowl sitting high in rockies straddling continental divide. city positioned on southwestern side of large mass of granite known boulder batholith, dates cretaceous era. in 1864, william l. farlin staked asteroid mine (later known travona), , followed influx of additional miners seeking gold , silver. mines attracted workers cornwall (united kingdom), ireland, wales, lebanon, canada, finland, austria, italy, china, montenegro, mexico, , more. in ethnic neighborhoods, young men formed gangs protect territory , socialize adult life, including irish of dublin gulch, eastern europeans of mcqueen addition, , italians of meaderville.

butte courthouse , additional buildings, 1885.

among migrants, many chinese workers moved in, , amongst them set businesses led creation of chinatown in butte. chinese migrations stopped in 1882 passage of chinese exclusion act. there anti-chinese sentiment in 1870s , onwards due racism on part of white settlers, exacerbated economic depression, , in 1895, chamber of commerce , labor unions started boycott of chinese owned businesses. business owners fought suing unions , winning. history of chinese migrants in butte documented in mai wah museum.

the influx of miners gave butte reputation wide-open town vice obtainable. city s famous saloon , red-light district, called line or copper block , centered on mercury street, elegant bordellos included famous dumas brothel. behind brothel equally famous venus alley, women plied trade in small cubicles called cribs . red-light district brought miners , other men on region , open until 1982 1 of last such urban districts in united states. commercial breweries first opened in butte in 1870s, , large staple of city s economy; run german immigrants, including leopold schmidt, henry mueller, , henry muntzer. breweries staffed union workers. ethnic groups in butte, germans , irish italians , various eastern europeans, including children, enjoyed locally brewed lagers, bocks, , other types of beer.

industrial expansion

the anselmo mine, 1 of many in butte, opened in 1887.

in late nineteenth century, copper in great demand because of new technologies such electric power required use of copper. 3 industrial magnates fought control of butte s mining wealth. these 3 copper kings william a. clark, marcus daly, , f. augustus heinze. between 1884 , 1888, clark constructed copper king mansion in butte, became second residence home in new york city. also, in 1899, purchased columbia gardens, small park developed full amusement park, featuring pavilion, rollercoaster, , lake swimming , canoeing. clark s expansion of park intended provide place children , families away polluted air of butte mining industry. city s rapid expansion noted in 1889 frontier survey: butte, montana, fifteen years ago small placer-mining village clinging mountain side, has risen rank of first mining camp of world... [it] populous city of montana, numbering twenty-five thousand active, enterprising, prosperous inhabitants. in 1888 alone, mining operations in butte had generated inconceivable output of $23 million (equivalent $613,077,778 in 2016) worth of ore.

columbia gardens, amusement park in butte, c. 1905.

around turn of twentieth century, prosperous mining had generated considerable wealth in butte, , @ time largest city between chicago , san francisco. copper ore mined butte mining district in 1910 alone totaled 284,000,000 pounds (129,000,000 kg), making largest producer of copper in north america , second south africa in world production of metals. same year, excess of 10,000,000 ounces (280,000 kg) of silver , 37,000 ounces (1,000 kg) of gold discovered. amount of ore produced in city earned nickname richest hill on earth. large workforce of miners performing in physically dangerous conditions, butte site of active labor union movements, , came known gibraltar of unionism.

by 1885, there 1,800 dues-paying members of general union in butte. year union reorganized butte miners union (bmu), spinning off non-miners separate craft unions. of these joined knights of labor, , 1886 separate organizations came form silver bow trades , labor assembly, 34 separate unions representing of 6,000 workers around butte. bmu established branch unions in mining towns barker, castle, champion, granite, , neihart, , extended support other mining camps hundreds of miles away. in 1892 there violent strike in coeur d alene. although bmu experiencing relatively friendly relations local management, events in idaho disturbing. bmu not sent thousands of dollars support idaho miners, mortgaged buildings send more.

there growing concern local unions vulnerable power of mine owners associations 1 in coeur d alene. in may 1893, forty delegates northern hard-rock mining camps met in butte , established western federation of miners (wfm), sought organize miners throughout west. butte miners union became local number 1 of new wfm. wfm won strike in cripple creek, colorado, following year, in 1896–97 lost violent strike in leadville, colorado, prompting montana state trades , labor council issue proclamation organize new western labor federation along industrial lines.

anaconda copper , civil unrest


frank little, iww organizer lynched in butte in 1917.

in 1899, daly joined william rockefeller, henry h. rogers, , thomas w. lawson organize amalgamated copper mining company. not long after, company changed name anaconda copper mining company (acm). on years, anaconda owned assorted larger corporations. in 1920s, had virtual monopoly on mines in , around butte. between approximately 1900 , 1917, butte had strong streak of socialist politics, electing mayor on socialist ticket in 1914.

it had established 1 of solid union cities in america. after 1905, butte became hotbed of industrial workers of world (iww, or wobblies ) organizing. rivalry between iww supporters , wfm locals culminated in butte, montana labor riots of 1914, , resulted in loss of union recognition mine owners. after dissolution of miners union, anaconda company attempted inaugurate programs aimed @ enticing employees. however, number of clashes between laborers, labor organizers, , anaconda company ensued, including 1917 lynching of iww executive board officer frank little. in 1920, company mine guards gunned down strikers in anaconda road massacre. seventeen shot in tried flee, , 1 man died.

sparked tragic accident more 2,000 feet (600 m) below ground on june 8, 1917, fire in granite mountain shaft spewed flames, smoke, , poisonous gas through labyrinth of underground tunnels including connected speculator mine. rescue effort commenced, carbon monoxide stealing air supply. few men built man-made bulkheads save lives, many others died in panic try out. rescue workers set fan prevent fire spreading. worked short time, when rescuers tried use water, water evaporated, creating steam burned people trying escape. once fire out, waiting hear news on surface not identify victims. mutilated recognize, leading many assume worst. of 168 bodies removed mine, had died due lack of oxygen , smoke inhalation opposed actual fire itself. due efforts of men such ernest sullau, manus duggan, con o neil, , j. d. moore, survived, event largest hard rock mining accident in history. granite mountain memorial built commemorate died in accident. disaster memorialized in song, rox in box on album king dead indie rock band, decemberists.

the loss of miners in incident sparked additional strikes , protests, establishment of metal mine workers union, led 15,000 workers abandon jobs. in 1917, copper production butte mines peaked , steadily declined thereafter. wwii, copper production acm s holdings in chuquicamata, chile, far exceeded butte s production. historian janet finn has examined tale of 2 cities —butte , chuquicamata 2 acm mining towns.

open-pit mining era


patrons @ matinee of phantom foe @ american theater, december 25, 1920.



1942 view of city.

disputes between miners unions , companies continued through 1920s , 1930s in butte, several strikes , protests, 1 of lasted ten months in 1921. in 1923, protestors attempted blow hibernian hall on main street dynamite. between 1914 , 1920, u.s. national guard occupied butte total of 6 times restore civility.

further industrial expansions included arrival of first mail plane in city in 1928, , in 1937, city s streetcar system dismantled , replaced bus lines. copper mines proved prosperous until 1950s, when declining grade of ore , competition other mines led anaconda company switch focus costly , dangerous practice of underground mining open pit mining.

since 1950s, 5 major developments in city have occurred: anaconda s decision begin open-pit mining in mid-1950s; series of fires in butte s business district in 1970s; debate on whether relocate city s historic business district; new civic leadership; , end of copper mining in 1983. in response, butte looked ways diversify economy , provide employment. legacy of on century of environmental degradation has, example, produced jobs. environmental cleanup in butte, designated superfund site, has employed hundreds of people.

thousands of homes destroyed in meaderville suburb , surrounding areas, mcqueen , east butte, excavate berkeley pit, opened in 1954 anaconda copper. @ time, largest truck-operated open pit copper mine in united states. berkeley pit grew time until bordered columbia gardens. after gardens caught fire , burned ground in november 1973, continental pit excavated on former park site. in 1977 arco (atlantic richfield company) company purchased anaconda, , 3 years later started shutting down mines due lower metal prices. in 1982, mining in berkeley pit suspended. in 1983, organization of low income , unemployed residents of butte formed fight jobs , environmental justice; butte community union produced detailed plan community revitalization , won substantial benefits, including montana supreme court victory striking down unconstitutional state elimination of welfare benefits.

the berkeley pit in 1984.

anaconda ceased mining @ continental pit in 1983. montana resources llp bought property , reopened continental pit in 1986. company stopped mining in 2000, resumed in 2003 higher metal prices, , continues @ last report, employing 346 people. 1880 through 2005, mines of butte district have produced more 9.6 million metric tons of copper, 2.1 million metric tons of zinc, 1.6 million metric tons of manganese, 381,000 metric tons of lead, 87,000 metric tons of molybdenum, 715 million troy ounces (22,200 metric tons) of silver, , 2.9 million ounces (90 metric tons) of gold. when mining ceased @ berkeley pit in 1982, water pumps in nearby mines shut down, resulted in highly acidic water laced toxic heavy metals filling pit.

post-millennium

around twenty of headframes still stand on mine shafts, , city still contains thousands of historic commercial , residential buildings boom times, which, in uptown section, give old-fashioned appearance, many commercial buildings not occupied. many industrial cities, tourism , services, health care (butte s st. james hospital has southwest montana s major trauma center), rising primary employers, industrial-sector private companies. many areas of city, areas near old mines, show signs of urban blight recent influx of investors , aggressive campaign remedy blight has led renewed interest in restoring property in uptown butte s historic district, expanded in 2006 include parts of anaconda , largest national historic landmark district in united states 6,000 contributing properties.

a century after era of intensive mining , smelting, area around city remains environmental issue. arsenic , heavy metals such lead found in high concentrations in spots affected old mining, , period of time in 1990s tap water unsafe drink due poor filtration , decades-old wooden supply pipes. efforts improve water supply have taken place in past few years, millions of dollars being invested upgrade water lines , repair infrastructure. environmental research , clean-up efforts have contributed diversification of local economy, , signs of vitality remain, including multimillion-dollar polysilicon manufacturing plant locating nearby in 1990s , city s recognition , designation in late 1990s all-america city , 1 of national trust historic preservation s dozen distinctive destinations in 2002.