Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
largest silver and copper producers and among the most populated cities in the United
States. Throughout the boom, a diverse range of immigrants flooded into the area looking
for opportunities. Irish, Italian, Eastern European, and Chinese newcomers all contributed
to the culture and history of the city.
By the early 1900s, with the introduction of electricity and the demands of World War I,
Butte's copper production was in full swing, and big business wanted the largest piece of the
pie. In 1899 the Standard Oil Company founded the Amalgamated Copper Mining Com-
pany, which would become the Anaconda Copper Mining Company. Clashes between labor
and management during the Progressive era set the tone for the labor movement across the
country.
When the price of copper sank during the Great Depression, Butte's economy suffered.
After a short spike during World War II, the Anaconda Company made the shift to strip-
mining in 1955, which involved removing large chunks of earth—and tearing down entire
neighborhoods—to open the Berkeley Pit. This hole in the middle of the city grew, swal-
lowing huge amounts of land and scarring every square inch of the city until it was shut
down in 1982. The toxic site was declared an environmental hazard, and it is now a Super-
fund site and a tragic, irreparable reminder of the end of the city's mining era.
With the Depression and the plummeting price of metals, most of the mining towns in
Montana suffered similar fates, although significantly less dramatically than Butte. While
a limited amount of mining is being done today in the region, the state is working to draw
visitors interested in the rich history of the area—and, of course, by touting the region's
natural splendor. Indeed, there are places in southwestern Montana, including the Big Hole
Valley and the Jefferson River Valley, that were unscarred by mining and where time seems
to have stood still over the centuries.
This corner of the state is vast and relatively diverse, both geographically and in terms of
its offerings. History buffs will be easily sated just about anywhere, from the big cities of
Helena and Butte to the tiny ghost towns that dot the landscape. And while southwestern
Montana could easily absorb a week or more, it can also be appreciated in three days or less
for visitors trying to see more of the state.
Butte
is a fascinating destination, not so much for its present-day incarnation, which can
be fairly described as a bit rowdy and somewhat bleak, but for its older glory: the remark-
able architecture that still stands, the underground city that is just coming to light, and the
mines that made Butte the “richest hill on earth” and one of the country's largest cities west
