History
of Butte, Montana: a Timeline

The Butte mining camp was in decline, most surface gold was gone, and what remained was trapped in quartz with no mill to process it. William A. Clark came to Butte, bought up quartz claims at very low prices, and eventually acquired a quartz mill. With the mill, Clark could process the miners’ ore, an early move that positioned him to profit from what came next.

Gold played out completely; it went quickly between 1864 and 1874. By the time it was gone, Butte’s population had significantly decreased; estimates suggest only 61-241 people remained in Butte.

Irish-born Marcus Daly came to Butte to look at the Alice Mine on behalf of the Walker Brothers of Salt Lake City. They purchased the Alice Mine, Daly became the superintendent, and Daly was awarded a share of the mine.

Marcus Daly bought the Anaconda Mine with the help of investors and founded The Anaconda Gold and Silver Mining Company (often called The Company). They hoped to find silver, but instead found a large copper deposit.

Butte got electrified, and between 1880 and 1881, mines around Walkerville started to install electric lights. About 3,363 people lived in Butte at this time, according to the 1880 Census.

Butte welcomed its first electric power plant, located on East Mercury Street between Main Street and Wyoming Street. Over the next year, the electric power plant began providing service to most customers in the central business district.

St. Patrick’s Cathedral was formally dedicated, and by the following year, it had 2,500 parishioners—representing nearly two-thirds of Butte’s registered church members at the time. As the congregation grew, St. Patrick’s became a cornerstone of Butte’s early Irish population.

Daly opened the Washoe smelter in Anaconda. This smelter had five times more capacity than any of the smelters in Butte.

William A. Clark began construction on his 34-room, Victorian-style mansion, presently referred to as the Copper King Mansion. Construction wrapped up in 1888.

Steam-powered locomotives traveled around Butte, and a cable car climbed Main Street up the hill to Walkerville. Around the same time, John Gordon and Frederick Ritchie opened Columbia Gardens, but with limited trolley service, the gardens struggled and ultimately failed.

F. Augustus Heinze arrived in Butte at the age of 19 as a mining engineer. He quickly founded his own mining company and began climbing the ranks as a copper king.

Dumas Brothel opened as Butte surged back to life. According to the 1890 Census, 23,300 people lived in Butte at the time.

The Anaconda Gold and Silver Mining Company changed its name to the Anaconda Mining Company. During this time, the Cabbage Patch, which housed Butte’s poorest residents, began to take shape.

Marcus Daly built the Butte, Anaconda, and Pacific Railway (BA&P) to haul ore from his Butte mines to the smelter in Anaconda.

The Anaconda Mining Company changed its name to Anaconda Copper Mining Company.

William A. Clark began construction on the Clark Chateau. The home was built for his oldest son, Charles. The design was inspired by French chateaus and was completed in 1899.

Daly sold his mining operations, Anaconda Copper Mining Company, for $39 million. Standard Oil Trust investors bought it and created an umbrella corporation called the Amalgamated Copper Company, which included most of Butte’s mining operations, most of the area’s newspapers, and other businesses.

Montana Tech opened its doors as the Montana State School of Mines. At the time, only the Main Hall existed, and 21 students enrolled in one of two majors: mining engineering or electrical engineering.

Immigrants from all over the world moved to Butte during the late 1800s, most notably, a strong Irish population, and by this point, a quarter of Butte’s population was Irish.

Holy Trinity Church was constructed, and at the time, it was just the second Serbian Orthodox Church constructed in North America.

F. Augustus Heinze took his fortune to New York, opened a bank, and joined his brothers in a risky bid to corner the copper market. Silent runs began on Heinze’s bank and Knickerbocker Trust. At the same time, Heinze loaned his brothers money to aid their attempt to corner the copper market on the stock exchange, which ultimately failed in October of 1907. Rivals blasted the family’s financial problems to the press, Heinze was pushed out, and depositors rushed to both institutions to withdraw their funds. The fallout was initially intended to affect Heinze and the trusts, but it quickly got out of hand, and the Panic of 1907 became an economic nightmare for the entire nation.

The Pekin Noodle Parlor opened in Chinatown, creating what eventually became the world’s oldest, continually operated, family-owned Chinese restaurant in the United States.he Company reduced its workforce by half on September 12th, and then shut down almost all of the mines on the Hill on December 7th. Full production did not resume until the next year.

Amalgamated Copper Company dissolved, and all of its properties became departments at the Anaconda Copper Mining Company.

Swiss-born, Antone, ‘Tony,’ Canonica built the first floor of Tony’s Tin Shop, and moved his business and his family into the building.

After eight years of using the Butte, Anaconda, and Pacific Railroad (BA&P) stop in Butte for passenger service, the Milwaukee Railroad opened a large station of its own for passenger travel on South Montana Street. This was also the year Butte’s population peaked at approximately 100,000.

Tony Canonica completed the second story of his building, where his business, Tony’s Tin Shop, and family resided, and named the building Myra, after his wife.

Tony’s Tin Shop began to lease an upstairs portion of the building to Mrs. Mary Owen, who used the space as a brothel—known as the Myra Brothel—until 1929.

Open-pit mining started, and the Anaconda Copper Mining Company changed its name to The Anaconda Company, as its business activities had extended well beyond copper mining.

Anaconda Company donated the land for the World Museum of Mining

Silver Bow Drive-In opened.

The construction of the Our Lady of the Rockies monument began.

The Dumas Brothel closed after nearly a century in operation, and it became known as the longest-running brothel in the United States.

Silver Bow Creek was added as a Superfund Site and remained one ever since.

The Butte area was added to the Silver Bow Creek Superfund Site, and remained one since. The entire Superfund Site would include Silver Bow Creek, the Berkeley Pit, underground mines of Butte’s historic mining district (Butte Hill), urban areas of Butte and Walkerville, rural areas outside of Butte where mining occurred, and the treatment ponds at Warm Springs Ponds.

Butte’s population was 33,941, according to the 1990 Census.

Mai Wah Society opened. The society is dedicated to documenting, preserving, and interpreting the history and culture of Asian people in the Rocky Mountain West.

Fox Theatre was renovated and reopened under its new name, Mother Lode Theatre.

Butte hosted its first An Ri Ra Festival, which celebrated Irish culture.

Butte hosted the National Folk Festival for the first time, as part of a three-year partnership. 2008 marked the first time the event was hosted west of the Mississippi River in 44 years.

Headframe Spirits was founded.

Headframe Spirits opened the doors to its tasting room.