History of Butte Montana

Butte was one of the largest and most notorious copper boomtowns of the American West. In its heyday from the late 19th century until about 1920 it was home to hundreds of saloons and an infamous red-light district. Today Butte is the only city in the United States where possession and consumption of open alcoholic beverage containers is always allowed on the streets throughout the entire city (although not in vehicles).

The Richest Hill on Earth

Beginning as a gold and silver mining town in the late 19th century, the advent of electricity caused a soaring demand for copper, which Butte possesses in abundance. The small town soon became one of the most prosperous cities in the country, earning it the nickname "The Richest Hill on Earth."

Copper Kings & Dumas Brothel

Three men fought for control of Butte's copper mining wealth. William A. Clark, Marcus Daly and F. Augustus Heinze became known as the "Copper Kings," and in 1899 Daly joined William Rockefeller, Henry H. Rogers and Thomas W. Lawson to form Anaconda Copper Mining Company (ACM).

ACM was the fourth largest company in the world during the 1920s. Enjoying a virtual monopoly over the mines in and around Butte, prosperity continued up until the 1950s, when the declining grade of ore and competition from other mines led ACM to switch its focus from the costly and dangerous practice of underground mining to open-pit mining. This marked the beginning of the end for the boom times in Butte.

During this time Butte had a reputation as a wide-open town where any vice was obtainable. The city's red-light district was filled with saloons and elegant bordellos including the infamous Dumas Brothel, which ended up being the longest running house of prostitution in U.S. history. The red-light district was openly tolerated by city officials until the 1980s. Today the Dumas Brothel is a museum, providing a glimpse into Butte's unique past.

Open-Pit Era

At the time of its opening in 1955, Berkeley Pit was the largest truck-operated open-pit copper mine in the United States. In 1977 ARCO purchased Anaconda Mining (Berkeley Pit's operator) and only three years later started shutting down mines due to lower metal prices. When all mining in the pit was suspended in 1982, water pumps in surrounding mines were also shut down, resulting in highly acidic water laced with toxic heavy metals filling up the pit. Two years later Berkeley pit was classified as a Superfund, an environmental hazard under U.S. law. Ironically, Berkeley Pit is one of Butte's biggest tourist attractions and is the largest pit lake in the United States.

Present Day Butte

Recently copper mining has made a strong comeback. Today the mines are operated by Montana Resources (MR), a division of The Washington Companies. Their operation comprises the Continental Pit mine and a concentrator where tons of raw ore is processed into metal concentrates. At full production, MR employs over 340 people who are a proud and skilled workforce, heir to a tradition of copper mining in Butte dating back to the 1870s.

Butte's population is roughly 35,000, about a third of its 1917 peak. The city still contains thousands of historic commercial and residential buildings from the boom times which gives the town an old-fashioned appearance, with numerous buildings and comparatively few people.

As with many industrial cities, tourism and services (especially health care) continue to rise as primary employers along with a steadily increasing manufacturing sector. Many areas of the city, especially near the old mines, show signs of wear. Thankfully a recent influx of investors and an aggressive campaign to restore historical structures has led to a renewed interest in Uptown Butte's historic district, which was expanded in 2006 to include parts of Anaconda. Today Butte is the largest National Historic Landmark District in the United States with nearly 6,000 contributing properties.

Did You Know?

From 1880 through 2005, Butte district mines produced more than 9.6 million tonnes of copper, 2.1 million tonnes of zinc, 1.6 million tonnes of manganese, 381 thousand tonnes of lead, 87 thousand tonnes of molybdenum, 715 million troy ounces of silver, and 2.9 million ounces of gold.