Butte

Understand

The rock underneath and surrounding Butte is honeycombed with drifts, winzes and stopes that extend beneath the city. There are over 3000 miles of shafts that reach a depth of over a mile. These mines have produced billions of dollars worth of gold, silver, zinc, and above all else, copper. For decades, about one-quarter of global copper supply was extracted from here.

It used to be Montana's largest city, but has dwindled in size and importance along with the state's mining industry. As of 2020, it has a population of under 35,000. The city is still trying to reinvent itself without intensive mining as its focal point, but it has a century of well-preserved heritage to build upon. As cities like Missoula and Bozeman become popular with out-of-staters and expensive for long-time residents, Butte is still a city for Montanans.

History

Butte started as a mining camp during a 1864 Montana gold rush. There was enough gold and silver here to keep the town humming along until the electrification of the U.S. in the 1880s created a huge demand for copper, making Butte the world's largest copper boom town. Employment opportunities in the mines attracted surges of European and Asian immigrants, who helped to make Butte the largest city between Seattle and Minneapolis. Over the next hundred years, Butte's mining and smelting operations generated more than $48 billion worth of ore.

Industrial magnates fought for control of Butte's mining wealth. These "Copper Kings" were William A. Clark, Marcus Daly, James Andrew Murray and F. Augustus Heinze. Daly's Anaconda Copper Mining Company quickly came to dominate the local industry, eventually owning all the mines on Butte Hill. Clark used his wealth to pivot into railroads and politics, establishing Las Vegas in the eponymous Clark County. As mining consolidated and industrialized, the city became a center for labor unions and socialist politics, famously leading to the labor riot of 1914.

By the 1950s, labor costs and international competition lead to a transition from underground to open-pit mining. Thousands of homes were destroyed to excavate the Berkeley Pit, that large "lake" in the northeast corner of town you see on modern maps. Anaconda Copper opened it in 1954 as the largest truck-operated open pit copper mine in the nation. By the 1970s, copper mining had hit a prolonged bust that shuttered most of the mines, ending Butte's heyday.

Get in

By car

Butte is at the intersection of Interstate 90 (I-90) between Deer Lodge and Whitehall, and Interstate 15 (I-15) between Helena and Dillon.

By plane

* Skywest dba Delta Connection (Salt Lake City) * Skywest dba United Express (Denver)

There are car rentals available from the airport which is the preferred method for greater flexibility in getting around to the surrounding areas.

If visibility is too low to land in poor weather, flights may divert to Gallatin Field Airport in Bozeman.

By bus

Bus service into town is provided by Salt Lake Express and Jefferson Lines. Both stop at the bus station at 1324 Harrison Ave.

Get around

Butte is sprawling and businesses are spread out into several sections. You can walk once you get into a section, but a vehicle is needed to get around.

By bicycle

There is a developed bike trail system.

Go next

• Take the 15 mile winding drive to Pipestone Trailhead on MT-2 E and take in the gorgeous scenery.
• Anaconda - Butte's copper went to the smelter in this neighboring town, the tallest masonry structure in the world.
• Bozeman - this college city makes a great base for Yellowstone National Park and the surrounding mountains.
• Helena - Montana's silver boom town that became the state capital.
• This part of the Rockies is full of historic mining sites, such as Virginia City and Wallace. See Mining tourism for even more ideas.