Copper mines weave their way under Butte, Montana, interlocking like a big maze. At one time Butte was the place with the most copper on earth. People from near and far came to Butte to set up life and join the mining profession. The miners led a meager life. Their families were always concerned about whether the miners would come out of the mines at night or be one of those killed or injured in the mines. This dangerous profession took many lives, and the town bears the scars of the deaths of miners.
Butte kept growing as the mining industry boomed. It was the electrical age and everyone and everything required copper. At one time the “no smoking” signs in the mines were in sixteen different languages. This was a melting pot for workers who wanted to start a life in America.
The Anaconda Company Pretty Much Owned Butte, Montana
The Anaconda Company owned the town. They say the board room of the Anaconda Company was the real City Hall. “The Company,” as it was known in town, ran everything. Just like today, the heads of the company took home big paychecks while the workers got barely enough to survive.
Then came the Unions, which helped alleviate overworking and underpaying. The Unions changed the lives of the people in Butte.
The Richest Hill on Earth
Butte is known as “the Richest Hill on Earth” because of its copper. It has also been called “The Pittsburgh of the West.” What Pittsburgh was to steel, Butte was to copper. The people of Butte took pride in their town. They did not want to be thought of as the typical western cowboy town. They dressed differently and held their heads high. They were not cowboys. They were miners.
While Butte was a big part of the industrialization of the country during the last century, there was also a bust to its boom. When Anaconda’s Brazilian copper mine was nationalized, the company lost a large part of their profits. Then they changed the mines in Butte to a big open pit, which worked for awhile. But soon the company pulled out of Butte, leaving the town without a major resource of finance.
Gabriel Byrne narrates Butte, America, which tells the story of not only Butte, Montana, but also the country. As the country industrialized and reliance on power soared, so did the town of Butte. But then came the big fall. What goes up must come down. And Butte is a prime example of that.
Today Butte is a thriving commuinity and the people there take pride in their city and their heritage. The population is over 31,000. In 2000 mining was shut down due to high energy costs however mining was resumed in 2002 in the Continental Open Pit Mine by Montana Resources Company,
Butte, America premiers on the PBS Series Independent Lens on Tuesday, October 20, 2009 at 10 PM ET.
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