History of Butte
I feel like I have visited mining towns all summer and Butte, Montana is another interesting one. Established in 1864 as mining camp, Butte was the first major city in Montana. It straddles the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains is located on the “richest hill on earth”.
Butte once had a population of 100,000 with 20,000 miners and many immigrants. In fact, today, Butte is home to the largest Irish American population per capita in the United States. Now, with a population of approximately 35,000 Butte is the 5th largest city in Montana.
Butte once supplied 25% of the World’s copper and 50% of the United States’ copper. Through its history, it has produced more than $48 billion worth of ore, mostly copper, but also silver and gold. As a result of the mining, Butte is the largest superfund site in the USA.
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