If you are driving Interstate 90 or I-15 through Montana you will want to stop in Butte to see the underground mining districts and the largest concentration of landmark historical sites of the American Wild West. Where tall mine frames dot the hillsides and light up red as beacons in the night sky, a memorial to times gone by.
In it’s heyday it had more wealth per citizen than any other comparable place on earth up to the middle of the 20th century. Gold, silver, and finally copper brought Butte’s population to nearly 100,000 in 1917, with more than 150 underground mines running 24 hours a day. Today there are many reminders of the opulence, decadence, and wild lifestyles of poor European immigrants, miners, businessmen, and of the wealthy “Copper Kings.”
If you can drop your trailer at The Town Pump Pilot station on the west side of Butte, drive your tractor to the parking area sitting atop the city’s richest hill at the Old Lexington Gardens. On site is the old stamp mill, owned by Montana’s first millionaire and a beautiful view of the city below. It is located on the corner of Granite and Arizona Street.
If you have time to stop for a tour, get an overview of the sites at Old Butte Historical Adventure Tours whose guides, dressed in period costumes, will take you on a fabulous walking tour of the historic buildings in the uptown area. They stop in seven museums along the way.
One of the highlights of touring Butte is The Copper King Mansion, a 34-room Victorian mansion built in the 1880s as local home of William Andrews Clark, one of the “Copper Kings” and a scandalous Senator of Montana. It was one of many homes he built around the world at a cost of $250,000, a huge sum of money in those days but which was only half of one day’s earnings for him.
It is easily found if you are approaching Butte on Interstate 90, look for exit #126, turn north and drive up the hill on Montana Street and come all the way to Uptown Butte. When you reach the traffic light at Granite Street (you’ll see the County Courthouse on the right) take a left turn and they are a half a block from that intersection on the north side of the street.
From May 1st through September 30th, the mansion is open daily for guided tours every hour from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. The price of the guided tour is $7.50 for adults. The tour is free for you if you stay as an overnight guest. To arrange a tour, or to reserve a room for the night, call 406-782-7580 or send e-mail to thecopperkingmansion@gmail.com.
Drive out for a look into Berkley Pit, the open pit copper mine that ate up the hillside and was once the largest truck operated copper mine in the United States. It is approximately 1,780 feet deep and filled to a depth of about 900 feet with acidic water after it was closed in 1982. There is a tunnel from the gift shop to the pit overlook.
If you go, take the walking tour into a mine at the World Mining Museum too, on the west side of town through the College campus. Another recommendation is to enjoy a nostalgic lunch at Sparkey’s Garage Cafe.
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