PHOTO: DONNIE SEXTON
of Butte. Old Butte Historical Adven- tures offers a number of tours of the town, including an underground tour of the city covering areas of the town you are guaranteed not to find on your own, and from Memorial Day to Labor Day, the Butte–Silver Bow Chamber of Commerce offers the Butte Trolley, a narrated bus tour of the city that leaves from the Visitor Center. There are also scheduled bus tours, June through October, to the Our Lady of the Rockies statue, which towers above the city two miles away at 8,500 feet above sea level and offers a great view of Butte. The statue was built to honor all women, with special empha- sis on mothers.
On the practical side of a trip to
u Completed in 1888 as the Butte residence of “copper king” William A. Clark, the Copper King Mansion bed and breakfast offers visitors a glimpse of the lifestyles of yesteryear’s rich and famous.
Among the sights one can see on the self-guided walking tour are two of the tallest buildings in Montana—the eight-story Hirbour Tower, which was built in 1901, and the nine-story Finlen Hotel, which was built in 1924. One can also view two buildings from the town’s once busy and prosperous Chinatown. (At one time, Butte had a sizable Chinese population, but as was the case in many western cities, prejudice ultimately drove most of the Chinese people away.) In addition to showcasing Butte’s history and the wonderful architecture of the town’s business buildings, the self-guided tour allows visitors to take in the showy colors of the homes along the tour’s path as well. Two of the more spectacular homes on the walking tour include the William A. Clark home and the Charles W. Clark home, which were built in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by Butte “copper king” William Andrews Clark for himself and his son. Although aligned against the massive Anaconda Copper Mining Company, William Clark still man- aged to amass a fortune valued at about $300 million dollars when he died in 1925 (about $3.6 billion in today’s dollars), and his thirty-four- room West Granite Street residence,
T H E E L K S M A G A Z I N E
n the practical side of a trip to Butte,
the city also has its fair share of amenities. There are modern hotels and motels as well as several acclaimed eateries.
which cost around $500,000 when it was completed in 1888 (about $11.6 million in today’s dollars), reflects his immense wealth, as does his son’s twenty-six-room home on West Broadway Street. Tours are offered of both the William A. Clark home, which is now a bed and breakfast called the Copper King Mansion, and the Charles W. Clark home, which is now known as the Charles W. Clark Chateau and is run by the Butte Silver Bow Arts Foundation. If you are interested in the lifestyles of the rich and famous of yesteryear, check them out on the self-guided walking tour. In addition to the self-guided walking tour, there are at least two options for professionally guided tours
Butte, the city also has its fair share of amenities. There are modern hotels and motels as well as several ac- claimed eateries. The Uptown Café, for example, which was founded in 1985, remains popular with locals and visitors alike. It is upscale and a bit pricy, but worth it, particularly for special occasions. Front Street Market is not a café, but you can find delicious soups, salads, and sandwiches there, along with narrow aisles filled with gourmet foods and possibly the best wine selection anywhere between Seattle and Chicago.
Butte doesn’t have the lavish, upscale entertainment that can be found in a place like Las Vegas, and it doesn’t have the same ambiance one finds in cities like San Francisco or Seattle. It is a gritty, down-to-earth place where hardworking people struggle to make a living and rebuild their city. Butte’s history is filled with conflict and even defeat, but its indomitable mining spirit shines on in its current efforts to revitalize itself and find new reasons for existing beyond the mines.
Butte, Montana, is definitely a
place to go if you have an interest in history or in the West’s obsession with mineral wealth. It is a place to go if you want to see past and present wrapped together in an wonderful mix that spurns the striving for the “new” that characterizes so many cities in the United States today. Butte is one place you won’t be able to say, “Gee, this is just like. . . ,” because there really isn’t any other place like Butte. ■
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