Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ant national research laboratory that arose from government concern over a spotted fever
outbreak around the turn of the 20th century, and an abundance of great restaurants and art
galleries. If you want to spend more than a day in the area, Hamilton makes an excellent
base.
Marcus Daly Mansion
Among the original copper kings, Marcus Daly was an Irish immigrant who came to Butte
and founded the Anaconda Copper Company, which dominated Montana's economy for
more than 50 years. Daly became fabulously wealthy and built a dream life for himself in
the Bitterroot Valley, with elaborate horse barns complete with hospitals and Turkish baths
for his world-class racehorses, 15,000 acres of farmland that included extensive livestock
holdings, and a 24,000-square-foot mansion with more than 25 bedrooms. So many hun-
dreds of people staffed the mansion, the racehorse operation, and the ranching and farming
outfits that Daly had to build a town—Hamilton—to accommodate them all.
The home itself was purchased by the Dalys in 1886 and remodeled extensively several
times until 1910, when the mansion was transformed into its present Georgian revival style.
The
Marcus Daly Mansion
(251 Eastside Hwy., 406/363-6004,
www.dalymansion.org
,
tours on the hour 10am-3pm daily Mother's Day-mid-Oct., holiday tours Nov. 28-Dec. 20,
$9 adults, $8 seniors, $6 children 6-17, free for children under 6) has been impeccably
maintained and can be visited only on tours, which include the mansion itself, the laundry
house, the greenhouse, the playhouse, the swimming pool, and the tennis courts. Weddings
and parties are often held on the magnificently landscaped grounds, known as the
Margaret
M. Daly Memorial Arboretum and Botanic Garden.
Check the website for scheduled
events ranging from lawn parties to Shakespearean performances to murder mystery week-
ends. Daly Days, a two-day celebration of the Daly family and the town of Hamilton's her-
itage held in late July, is an ideal time to visit. But the mansion is a lovely, quiet place to
spend any afternoon, imagining the kind of lives that were once lived here.
Ravalli County Museum
The
Ravalli County Museum
(205 Bedford St., 406/363-3338,
www.brvhsmuseum.org
,
10am-4pm Tues.-Wed., 10am-8pm Thurs., 10am-4pm Fri., 9am-1pm Sat., $3 adults, $6
families, free for children, free for everyone on Thursday) is housed in the 1900 county
courthouse. Operated by the Bitterroot Valley Historical Society, it is dedicated to pre-
serving the cultural heritage of the valley. In addition to their rotating exhibits, the mu-
seum's permanent collection focuses on telling the stories of its Native American inhabit-
ants, the Flathead Indians, as well as early white settlers in the area.
