1864: The beginning of the gold era. Also when Dennis Leary and Henry Porter name Butte. The town of Silver Bow is laid out. Butte's population is about 50.
1866: First smelter is built, but fails. First houses are built in Buffalo Gulch.
1867: Butte City townsite is laid out. Population is now 500.
1869-1874: Butte becomes a near ghost town after gold claims start to dry up.
1872: William A. Clark arrives in Butte.
1876: Marcus Daly arrives and buys the Lexington and Alice mines for the Walker Brothers in modern-day Walkerville. Population is 1,000. First newspaper, the Daily Miner, is published in July.
1877: Bill Parks hits four-foot vein of copper in his Parrot Mine.
1878: First labor strike in history when the Walker Brothers and A.J. Davis try to cut unskilled workers' wages from $3.50 a day to $3. It succeeds. First hurdy-gurdy house, with four show-girl dancers from Salt Lake City, opens.
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1879: Butte City is incorporated with boundaries of Mercury, Quartz, Arizona and Washington streets. Three opium dens open in Chinatown.
1880: Daly buys the Anaconda Mine. Population is 3,363.
1881: St. James Hospital opens. Utah and Northern Railroad arrives in Butte.
1883: Daly builds his copper reduction works near Anaconda.
1885: Miners' Union has 1,450 members.
1887: Butte temporarily becomes the largest producer of copper in the United States ahead of Michigan. Great Northern Railroad reaches Butte.
1888: Columbia Gardens are formed out of an old failed mine claim. By 1900 it becomes a rowdy place with pit bull fights nightly.
1890: Population is 10,723. Nearly half is foreign-born.
1892: Feud between Clark and Daly takes shape when Daly sides with Republicans after Democrats sided with Clark in battle for control of the Butte Water Co.
1893: Daly thwarts Clark's first bid for U.S. Senate.
1894: American Protective Association Riots in Butte. The anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant organization was popular with the English community but a riot broke out when APA banners were hung in two bars. Irish firefighters did little to stop the fight, other than spraying pro APA patrons. The militia eventually restored order, but not before two people were killed, including a police officer.
1895: Several warehouses explode when the dynamite inside them ignites. Possibly as many as 59 people are killed, including all but three of the Butte Fire Department.
1898: Amalgamated Copper Co. forms with Daly as vice president and George Rockefeller as secretary.
1899: Clark buys Columbia Gardens and cleans it up. Most say it is a campaign move since he is running once again for U.S. Senate. He loses, thanks to Daly.
1900: Marcus Daly dies in New York City. Butte's population is 30,470.
1901: Clark wins his bid for the U.S. Senate easily. Serves until 1907.
1905: International Workers of the World forms in Butte. Also known as the "Wobblies."
1907: Statue of Daly erected. Will later move to Montana Tech campus entrance in 1941.
1910: Butte population is up to 39,165.
1911: Socialists join with International Workers of the World to elect socialist government in Butte.
1912: Montana Power forms.
1914: The Butte Miners Union and American Federation of Labor are crushed when the Union Hall is blown up on June 23. The governor later sends in troops to arrest the socialist mayor and sheriff and local labor leaders.
1914: Would-be copper king F. Augustus Heinze dies, almost penniless, in Saratoga, N.Y.
1914-1917: Anti-war demonstrations against helping Britain bring troops in are held regularly.
1917: Granite Mountain-Speculator mine fire kills 168. Wobblie leader Frank Little is hanged. Call are renewed for national mine safety reform.
1920: Butte population peaks at 41,611, with Silver Bow County at 60,313, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures.
1925: W.A. Clark dies, leaving little in Montana but amassing a $200 million fortune.
1928: Anaconda Standard and Butte Miner join to form the current Montana Standard.
1938: Wyoming Street becomes first asphalt-paved street in Butte.
1954: Drilling starts on Berkeley Pit.
1955: First dig on Berkeley Pit.
1959: Anaconda Co. sells its newspapers to Lee Enterprises.
1961: Anaconda Co. successfully lobbies for a state law allowing a company with mineral rights to condemn adjacent land.
1962: Montana School of Mines wins football game against Northern Montana College, ending a 44-game losing streak dating to 1953.
1965: World Museum of Mining opens.
1971: Leftist Chilean government seizes Anaconda Co.'s holdings, crippling the company.
1973: Columbia Gardens is closed for the expansion of mining. Fire destroys much of the equipment in November.
1971-73: Butte Central wins three consecutive football championships, the first to do so.
1975: 3,000 miners laid off by Anaconda Co.
1976: By nearly 2-1 margin, Silver Bow County voters decide to consolidate the city and county governments. Golf-ball size hail causes $6 million in damages countywide.
1977: Atlantic Richfield Co. (ARCO) takes over Anaconda Co.
1979: Most of east side is leveled for Berkeley Pit.
1980: Anaconda Smelter closes.
1981: Kelley Mine closes. Butte mining work force drops to 1,045. Plans for Our Lady of the Rockies unveiled. Proxy marriage of Russian dissident Andrei Sakharov takes place in Butte.
1982: ARCO announces Berkeley Pit will close. About 270 unemployed.
1982: Golden Sunlight Mine near Whitehall opens. Butte Vo-Tech is built.
1986: Mining resumes next to the Berkeley Pit by Montana Resources Inc., owned by Montana millionaire Dennis Washington. Ground breaking for U.S. High Altitude Sports Center.
1988 - Butte wins "All-America" designation.
1989 - Montana celebrates 100th.
1990 - Dennis Washington agrees to Butte Water Co. repairs.
1991 - A 71-year-old tradition comes to an end. Officials announce that the Butte High-Central game will be axed. Wal-Mart buys Butte land.
1992 - City of Anaconda buys their portion of the former Butte Water Co. system from MERDI for $226,000.
1993 - Butte Water settles two suits; ex-owner Dennis Washington to pay state and feds $900,000.
1994 - Anaconda and Arco sign golf course papers.
1995 - Rhone-Poulenc announces they will close their doors. Dead geese (149) found floating in the Berkeley Pit.
1996 - Butte Irish hockey team makes its debut at the Butte Civic Center. Bob Gannon will head Montana Power.
1997 - Old Works Golf Course officially opens. Montana Power Co. puts its network of coal-fired and hydro-electric power plants on auction block.
1998 - Documentary, "The Irish in America," features Butte. State of Montana and Atlantic Richfield reach tentative $215 million environmental cleanup agreement. Montana Power Co. agrees to sell nearly all its state electrical generating facilities to PP&L Global.
1999 - Prairie Home Companion comes to Butte. Butte fire officials close city jail.
2000 - Montana Resources closes its mine and concentrator due to high electricity prices.
What's the story behind the 'M' on the hill above, Montana Tech?
Montana Tech has left an indelible mark on Butte.
And the "M' marks the butte that gave the Mining City its name.
The "M" first was formed in May 7, 1910, when the entire student body of the then-Montana School of Mines (all 45 strong) hiked up the east face of Big Butte and started whitewashing the rocks they had gathered since the spring.
The letter was a simple one, even though it took 11 hours to build and paint, measuring 80 feet wide by 90 feet tall. The seniors and juniors whitewashed the rocks while the freshmen and sophomores carried buckets of water and lime to the top.
There was little time for foolishness, with a short lunch break the only pause. But three freshmen managed to get into trouble nonetheless, as the Butte Miner reported: "Throwing cans and monkeyshines, in general were kept in check by a policing committee. Only three men aroused the ire of this august body. They were paddled in proper form the next day."
The student body added serifs to the letter, widening it to its current 90 feet a few years later. The school declared a holiday each May when most of the student body would climb the butte to give the "M" a spring whitewashing.
As the years went by, the work was pretty much the same for the students as in 1910, except now there were women in the school to cook a meal for the students at the end of the project, according to the 1933 edition of the Magma yearbook. Even more social events began to be associated with what became known as "M Day" as dances and other campus projects were added in 1911.
But what makes Butte's "M" famous around the state are the lights that were installed May 16, 1962.
Then-Gov. Tim Babcock threw the switch that illuminated the 130 light bulbs on the "M" for the first time that night after another long day of work for Tech students.
A story in the April 5, 1990, Technocrat (the student newspaper) said, "although some students didn't feel well, almost everyone turned out by 8 a.m., well 9 a.m., to start the day's work."
The "M" also has the distinction of changing the color of its lights for holidays like Christmas and St., Patrick's Day. And the middle lights up, showing a flashing "V" whenever Tech wins in sports.
Now, the student body still does its part to keep the "M" shiny white. A campus service group, Theta Tau, leads a yearly expedition up Big Butte to help paint while campus employees repair wiring and replace bulbs when needed.
What's the story of Evel Knievel?
Mention Butte to most people around Montana, and the Berkeley Pit and Evel Knievel will soon come up.
Although it has been many years since Knievel did his final jump, resplendent in his white leather jumpsuit with the stars and stripes emblazoned across his chest, the legend still lives on.
But he lives on more quietly, working on his golf game and his painting, which provided him with a second career after his daredevil days were over.
Painting was a childhood love for Bobby "Evel" Knievel that rivaled his love for motorcycle racing, he said.
"When I was in Pop Weaver's class at Butte High, I drew a brook trout breaking water after a coachman fly," Knievel told the Montana Standard in 1980. "Weaver said it was too good and that I traced it. I didn't trace it, but he suspended me from his class."
Trouble at school, rightfully so or not, would dot Knievel's life in Butte.
"One time the police caught me and another boy with about 300 hubcaps," Knievel said in an interview with Penthouse Magazine in 1974. "I told them I bought them from a hobo. They said 'You got a receipt and I had an old receipt that said 'Sold to Bob Knievel, 300 hubcaps. Signed, Hobo. Vern Maddox, who was our chief of police, he about fell off his damn chair laughing! He was a helluva guy."
It was the adrenaline rush he received when he was breaking into a house or stealing hubcaps that prompted Knievel to try his skill at motorcycle jumping.
According to a Standard article from 1990, Knievel jumped only two pickup trucks in his first jump in 1965 near Palm Springs.
But he was to go onto bigger and better jumps, including a world-record jump over 13 buses at King's Island, Ohio, in 1975.
After breaking 30 bones in his career, Knievel walks with a noticeable lean but urges others to stop risking their lives with foolish stunts. That includes his son, Robbie, who is following in his father's footsteps.
"It's harder to see your son do it," Knievel said in 1990. "Robbie doesn't realize that, but he will if he ever has a little boy of his own."
The Butte native has learned from his experiences as a daredevil, which still hold rating records for ABC's Wide World of Sports, beating out such legends as Muhammad Ali. His peak came during the 1970s when his name was on most everyone's lips around the country and thousands of people filled stadiums as far away as Europe to see him defy death once again.
He was honored at a tribute dinner in July 1994, when Butte residents paid homage to the man who helped put Butte on the map for something besides copper mines.
But how does the man whose most famous exploits include leaping over tanks filled with sharks want to be remembered for? A man who had a movie made of his life? A man famous for bragging about the women who fought over him?
"As somebody who was a good person and tried to keep his word," Knievel said in 1990. "Somebody who cared for people."
Then he laughed.
Is it true the FBI once banished agents to Butte?
Yes. FBI agents were sent to Butte as punishment during the J. Edgar Hoover era, FBI agent Carl Zant from Billings said.
Hoover, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigations, used to send agents who had "got out of line" to Butte as punishment because Hoover thought it was so cold, said a Butte office worker who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"Once the agents got here they didn't want to leave," she said. "They all loved it here."
Zant, who was assigned to Butte after the policy ended with Hoover's death, said it's true that the former FBI director banished agents to Butte.
"It was not much of a deterrent," Zant said. "It was a hidden secret that everyone wanted to go there. No one ever told him (Hoover) that."
Zant said now the FBI sends agents to isolated places so they can work in relative anonymity.
Now Butte is one of the most coveted assignments, Zant said.
Where did the phrase 'Butte, America' start?
It's a phrase said with pride within the confines of the Mining City. It's a phrase often said with a derisive snort outside it.
Butte, America.
Ironically, the phrase that so many use to show pride in their hometown started outside of it. In Missoula, of all places.
Shag Miller, retired radio broadcaster and former station owner, said the phrase started when University of Montana students decided Butte residents acted like Butte is its own country separate from the rest of Montana.
Miller later started a radio Promotion for KBOW Radio with "Butte, America" bumper stickers and made a polka as the fledgling "country's" national anthem.
And 15,000 bumper stickers later, the nickname stuck.
"It's just like any other nickname," Miller said. "If it's around long enough, it sticks."
Can you give me a summary of Butte's history?
When the sun hits just right, the Anselmo Mine's black steel head-frames stretch out to the east like a giant spiderweb, larger than life in a town where history is steeped in the sweat of men and women.
Butte's history is larger than two men but William Andrews Clark and Marcus Daly did a lot to shape it. And what brought these two men can be found in the shadows of these steel head-frames.
Gold. Silver. Copper.
The discovery of gold in 1864 brought the white man in multitudes to an area that had only known American Indians and the occasional French trapper.
The original 50 miners, grew to 500 in 1867 but fell to 240 in 1870 when gold started to peter out.
But another precious metal would bring more men, including Clark and Daly, to the newly-incorporated city of Butte. Clark developed mills to extract the gold and silver from the ore, making him and his partner Andrew Jackson Davis, rich.
Daly followed Clark a couple years later, representing the Walker Brothers of Salt Lake City. He bought the Alice Mine and the town of Walkerville grew up around it.
Daly soon sold his interest in the mine to buy his own, the Anaconda Mine, with help from George Hearst, father of newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst.
By 1887, Butte surpassed the mines of Michigan to become the United States' largest copper producer. This was facilitated by the arrival of the railroad, in this case the Union Pacific, in 1881, to help Butte ship the copper out. Copper became the dominant mineral when Bill Parks discovered a four-foot vein in his Parrot Mine in 1876.
The turn of the century saw Daly ally himself with Standard Oil Co. to create Amalgamated Copper Mining Co., one of the huge trusts of the early 20th Century.
But Daly would not see the benefits. He died in New York City on Nov. 12, 1900.
This opened the way for Clark to achieve what had become his obsession: a seat on the U.S. Senate. Daly had used his money and influence to block Clark's two earlier bids, basically by buying votes for $56 each. Clark would serve from 1901 to 1907, withstanding several Senate investigations into his own vote-buying efforts.
Clark built what is now known as the Copper King Mansion a huge Victorian palace on West Granite Street.
The colorful history of Butte is not confined to these rich copper magnates. Single miners and entire families came from all over the country and the world. The Irish soon usurped the Cornish as the dominant ethnic group in Butte's early history. Between 1880 and 1914, many others came, including, the Italians, Chinese, Serbs, Croats, Finns and Germans, to name a few.
Labor movements dotted Butte's historical skyline with strikes, until labor's power was temporarily broken in 1914. In that year, the Miners' Union Hall was dynamited and the socialist mayor, sheriff and labor leaders were arrested by the state militia.
World War I brought its share of protests as pro-Free Ireland miners refused to support the United States in helping England because of its domination of Ireland.
In 1934, a 6,500-miner walkout stalled Butte's production, earning the strikers a 40-hour workweek. By then the mines were so criss-crossed and interlaced that Butte's claim to be a mile high and a mile deep was true. But that kind of mining began to wither when the Anaconda Co. started open pit mining.
The Berkeley Pit and its subsequent growth to 1.5 miles long, 1 mile wide and a third of a mile deep started to swallow up chunks of Butte history. Whole towns like Meaderville and McQueen were leveled to make room for the ever-growing pit. The Columbia Gardens, an old-fashioned amusement park, fell victim in 1973.
Anaconda's money troubles, coupled with falling copper prices and a revolutionary government in Chile that nationalized its holdings there, resulted in the layoff of 3,000 miners, severely harming Butte's economy.
In 1977, Atlantic Richfield (Arco) bought out Anaconda and mining continued until 1982, when the Berkeley Pit closed.
An adjacent pit reopened under Montana Resources Inc., when Montana millionaire Dennis Washington bought it in 1986. The mine employed non-union labor, a move some Butte residents thought could never happen in the city where the United Mine Workers Local No. 1 was located. Montana Resources closed its operation in 2000 due to high electricity prices.
A lot has changed over the years but the steel head-frames still stand above the city, a testimony to the heritage people from Butte hold true and proud.
What kind of plants grow in the area?
With an 81-day growing season, Butte residents have become adaptive at learning what plants, shrubs and trees are best suited to the climate.
Some gardeners have taken to growing tomatoes in pots, so they can be taken inside on cold nights. Others look for varieties especially grown for this climate.
Here is a list of plans, shrubs and trees recommended for Butte, from the Cooperative Extension service.
Perennial plants
Plants are listed alphabetically by their scientific name. The common name is given below.
Yarrow
Blue Bugle
Carpet Buglewood
Golden Marguerite
Rock Cress
Sage
Michaelmas Daisy
False Rock Cress
Globe Bellflower
Snow in Summer
Rock Foil
Scotch Moss
Ground Cover
Hen and Chicks
Thyme
Speed Well
Periwinkle
Dianthus
Jacob's Ladder
Buckwheat
Purple Coneflower
Primrose
Bittercup
Peony
Oriental Poppy
Wasatch Penstemon
Blanket Flower
Prairie Smoke
Groundsel
Baby's Breath
Allumroot
Plaintain Lily
Lewis Flax
Creeping Jenny
Mountain Blue Bell
Evening Primrose
Snow on the Mountain
Day Lily
Iris
Columbine
Bleeding Heart
Bachelor Button
Linaria
Clarkia
Gloriosa Daisy
Trollius
California Poppy
Iceland Poppy
Shrubs
Lilac
Caragana
Red-osier Dogwood
Peking Cotoneaster
Roses
Honeysuckle
Alpine Currant
Nanking Cherry
Sandcherry
Serviceberry
Spirea
Wayfaring Tree
Staghorn
Sumac
Snowberry
Trees less than 20 feet
Quaking Aspen
River Birch
Sea Buckthorn
Russian Olive
Mugo Pine
Rocky Mountain Junipers
Flowering Crab apples
Apples: Duchess, Anoka, Lodi, Carrol, Good Land, Patterson and Mandan
Hawthorns
Pie cherries: North Star, Meteor, Montmorency
Red Elderberry
American Plum
Amur Chokecherry
European Birdcherry
Japanese Lilac
Black Cherry
Mountain Maple
Tatarian Maple
Ginnala or Amur Maple
Shubert Chokecherry
Buffaloberry
Common Chokecherry
Willows: Drummond, Slender, Gray, Diamond, Pussy, Bebb, Scoular, Dwarf Artic
Trees more than 20 feet
Green Ash
Burr Oak
Norway Maple
Hackberry
Boxelder
European Mountain-ash
Mongolian Linden
Swedish Poplar
Boleana Poplar
Lombardy Poplar
White or Silver Poplar
Black Cottonwood
Plains Cottonwood
Narrow-leaf Cottonwood
Golden Willow
Quaking Aspen
American Linden
European Linden
Cut-leaf Weeping Birch
Paper Birch
Silver Maple
Austrian Pine
Scotch Pine
Limber Pine
Ponderosa Pine
Engelmann Spruce
Western Tamarack
Alpine Fir
Colorado Blue Spruce
White Spruce
Douglas Fir
How can I get advice on plants, yards and pests?
For free brochures and expert advice on how to take care of pests, plants and your lawn, contact Harold Johns at the Montana State University extension service in the courthouse: 497-6245, ext. 226.
How do I register to vote?
Eligible voters may go to the clerk and recorder's office in the Butte-Silver Bow County Courthouse at 124 W. Granite St. Applicants also may call the office at 497-6335.
Voters must be registered 30 days prior to an election to be eligible to vote. Address changes also are due 30 days in advance.
How do I get my utilities hooked up?
Call Montana Power customer service at (888) 467-2669. Montana Power provides both electricity and natural gas.
Touch American provides long distance and Internet service. The minimum Internet service rate is $14.95 and unlimited service is $17.95.
New construction is handled at 800 701 2660. Montana Power provides a guide book detailing new construction.
The Water Utility Division office, 124 W. Granite St., telephone 467-6500 provides municipal and industrial water to Butte-Silver Bow. The Water Shop and Repair Office, 129 W. Galena St. provides water main and service line locations, telephone 497-6540.
How do I get the telephone connected?
To activate telephone service call Qwest at (800) 244-1111.
How do I get a driver's license?
Had a really bad photo taken lately? Well, for $32 you can get a new 8-year driver's license with a Department of Motor Vehicles photo after a stop at the Driver License Station, 3615 Wynne St.
Applicants must be at least 15 years old and have completed a state approved drivers education course or be at least 16 years old if they have not completed driver's ed and then pass the written, vision and driving tests.
New residents must apply for a Montana driver's license within 90 days of moving to the state if seeking a non-commercial license. New residents may be required to pass written and driving tests, in addition to a vision test. However, driver examiners may at their discretion, waive the written and driving test for individuals who have a valid license issued by another state.
The office is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call 494-1949 for details.
Why do the license plates in Butte start with a 1?
Curious why Silver Bow County's number on license plates is a one?
Keep on wondering, because according to Bud Schoen of the state department of motor vehicles, no one alive knows.
There are no notes or press coverage when the county ranking system was approved in 1934.
Schoen said the number for Butte probably refers to the county population, which was tops in the state at the time. That holds true for the top four counties: Silver Bow, Cascade, Yellowstone and Missoula, according to 1930 census figures.
What it came down to was a political fight, and the big counties muscled in first, according to retired state researcher Paul Verdon, writing in the summer 1993 issue of "Montana Sheriff.
"You get to the county No. 9 and the population theory goes all to hell," Verdon said. "Powder River was never ever close to being ninth biggest in the state and then go to the other end. Lincoln County (No. 56) is nowhere near the smallest county; it's always been somewhere in the middle."
Now, after the end of mining in the area, Butte's population ranks seventh in the state.
Don't expect Silver Bow plates to be sporting a seven anytime soon.
Schoen said such a change is unlikely, although there has been talk of combining smaller counties for license plates. A Billings legislator proposed dumping the current system for an alphabetical one determined by population which would put Billings on top and Butte seventh.
What do the numbers on the license plates mean?
No. County Seat 2000 Census County
1 Butte 34,606 Butte-Silver Bow
2 Great Falls 80,357 Cascade
3 Billings 129,352 Yellowstone
4 Missoula 95,802 Missoula
5 Helena 55,716 Lewis & Clark
6 Bozeman 67,831 Gallatin
7 Kalispell 74,471 Flathead
8 Lewistown 11,893 Fergus
9 Broadus 1,858 Powder River
10 Red Lodge 9,552 Carbon
11 Malta 4,601 Phillips
12 Havre 16,673 Hill
13 Hamilton 36,070 Ravalli
14 Miles City 11,696 Custer
15 Polson 26,507 Lake
16 Glendive 9,059 Dawson
17 Wolf Point 10,620 Roosevelt
18 Dillon 9,202 Beaverhead
19 Fort Benton 5,970 Chouteau
20 Glasgow 7,675 Valley
21 Shelby 5,267 Toole
22 Hardin 12,671 Big Horn
23 Roundup 4,497 Musselshell
24 Chinook 7,009 Blaine
25 Virginia City 6,851 Madison
26 Conrad 6,424 Pondera
27 Sidney 9,667 Richland
28 Deer Lodge 7,180 Powell
29 Forsyth 9,383 Rosebud
30 Anaconda 9,417 Deer Lodge
31 Choteau 6,445 Teton
32 Columbus 8,195 Stillwater
33 Hysham 861 Treasure
34 Plentywood 4,105 Sheridan
35 Thompson Falls 10,227 Sanders
36 Stanford 2,329 Judith Basin
37 Scobey 2,017 Daniels
38 Cut Bank 13,247 Glacier
39 Baker 2,837 Fallon
40 Big Timber 3,609 Sweet Grass
41 Circle 1,977 McCone
42 Ekalaka 1,360 Carter
43 Townsend 4,385 Broadwater
44 Harlowton 2,259 Wheatland
45 Terry 1,199 Prairie
46 Philipsburg 2,830 Granite
47 White Sulphur Springs 1,932 Meagher
48 Chester 2,158 Liberty
49 Livingston 15,694 Park
50 Jordan 1,279 Garfield
51 Boulder 10,049 Jefferson
52 Wibaux 1,068 Wibaux
53 Ryegate 1,042 Golden Valley
54 Superior 3,884 Mineral
55 Winnett 493 Petroleum
56 Libby 18,837 Lincoln
