Decided to check out the city of Butte, MT today. They offer
a trolley tour (always a great way to learn and see the city) and get a feel
for what we want to go back to see. We had time before the tour so
we went to see Granite Mountain Mine Memorial.
This memorial was for 168 miners that died in 1917. I'll try to
give a short explanation: Butte
was home to one of the largest mining operations in the world, the abundance of
employment opportunities drew workers from every corner of the globe. More than
30 languages were spoken among the city streets. In April, 4 months into the
United States' involvement in World War I came a high demand for copper,
operating around the clock, working the 14,500 miners like mules in steadily
deteriorating safety conditions. On the evening of June 8, 1917, 410 men were
lowered into the Granite Mountain shaft to begin another backbreaking night
shift. Earlier in the day, a crew had lowering a three-ton electric cable down
the shaft to complete work on a “sprinkler system”. At 8:00 PM the cable
slipped from its clamps, and fell below the 2400-foot level. The lead covering
was torn away, exposing a large portion of oiled paraffin paper, which insulated
the cable.
At 11:30 four men went down to examine the cable. One of the
men accidentally touched his handheld carbide lamp to the cable insulation,
which immediately ignited the oily paper. The flame then spread to the shaft
timbers, quickly filling the Granite Mountain and Speculator shafts with thick,
toxic smoke.
Just over half of the men were able to find an escape to the
surface. One group built a bulkhead to isolate themselves from the smoke and
gas for 38 hours before making their way to safety. At the 2254-foot level,
another group were found behind a makeshift bulkhead over 50 hours. Two of
these men died shortly before their rescue. By the close of the rescue
operation on June 16, 1917, eight days after the fire had begun, the death toll
had reached its final tally of 168 men.
While the Granite Mountain Fire was the worst disaster in metal mining history.
Butte was being called "The Richest Hill on
Earth," referencing the soul and determination of the community, rather
than the value of the ore beneath its feet.
The tour took us through the Historic District of Butte. A
lot of history here, our first stop was Berkeley Pit.
It’s an open copper pit that’s a mile long, ½ mile wide and an unbelievable 1800 feet in depth. This was
caused from strip mining. From 1955 to 1982. The company decided to close the
mine so they just shut off the pumps and the water began to fill the pit. The
pit level rises about a foot per month. This water is polluted and by 2020 (not
that far away) the pit water will reverse flow back into the surrounding
groundwater. Montana Resources are working on the problem and the pit is a
tourist attraction. (what imagine that).
Butte is known to have 10,000 miles of underground tunnels,
and a mile deep, it is also a mile high above sea-level this is why it is known
as the “Mile High, Mile Deep” also known as “The richest Mountain on Earth”
In an area of 2x4 miles has produced 21.5 Billion pounds of
copper and tons of silver, gold, manganese, zinc and lead. I believe Butte
produces 50% of all of the US copper.
Sorry so much History L but it is interesting they are tough people here over 2500
men lost to mining. It is truly is a melting pot of hard working people.
Oh wait
forgot to mention another piece of history. The Dumas brothel which is an historic American brothel built in 1890, in what can
only be described as brothel style architecture. The Dumas has (42) rooms, each
with a distinct layout and purpose, and nearly all are intact as originally
designed. Rooms range from posh suites and grand parlors, to bare-bone “cribs”
-tiny rooms with space only for a bed and scarce amenities… tunnels connected
the Red-Light district to businesses.
Until the 1980’s, the sole purpose of the Dumas was to serve the predominately male population of Butte’s mining boom. The “official” story is that the Dumas operated “illegally for 92 years from 1890 to 1982,” although rumor says it was still in operation through the mid-late 1990’s. Dumas is the longest running house of “ill repute” in America. We were told the last Madam just died in 2004, she was 95. And yes this is a museum now.
Until the 1980’s, the sole purpose of the Dumas was to serve the predominately male population of Butte’s mining boom. The “official” story is that the Dumas operated “illegally for 92 years from 1890 to 1982,” although rumor says it was still in operation through the mid-late 1990’s. Dumas is the longest running house of “ill repute” in America. We were told the last Madam just died in 2004, she was 95. And yes this is a museum now.
After doing some walking on our own and had a late lunch more like Lupper (lunch and supper) at Sparky's garage.
BBQ chicken quesadilla with fresh pineapple
Good meal and cool decor. Good day.
No comments:
Post a Comment