On a sunny New York morning I boarded a west-bound Delta Flight on my way to Salt Lake City and onwards to the Bart Mooney Airport in Butte, Montana.
Between 1875 and 1925, many Irish men and women travelled there with great expectations and dreams offered by the mineral wealth hidden below the surface of the Montana plains.
As I looked out from my window seat 35,000 feet above central and mid west America, my admiration for our exiles of yesteryear grew by the minute and by the mile. Far below, I could see vast sun baked deserts, unfriendly rocky plains and snow-capped mountains. My trip was far removed from the stress and strain experienced by my fellow countrymen and women of a century ago as they journeyed west into the great unknown.
The history of Butte’s wealth really commenced when copper became the town’s most valuable asset. Back then, the mining city became home to thousands of immigrants with the Irish contingent being the largest ethnic group of all. The vast majority of Irish came from the Berehaven area of Co Cork, where a mining tradition existed, and from counties Donegal, Mayo and Down.
Mining was the reason for Butte’s existence but men took up a multitude of other jobs that did not entail going down the mines. These included bankers, blacksmiths, plumbers, joiners, barmen, tram drivers, caterers, builders and casino workers, while the women were employed as office staff, canteen assistants, seamstresses and shop assistants.
Being a mining town, Butte laid claim to having the second largest red-light district in the west. The rows of small chalets used by the ladies of the night have now become a tourist attraction.
Once there were four Irish-built Catholic churches in Butte. Looking down on the mining town is a 27-metre high statue of Our Lady of the Rockies. The site is a must for any visitor to Butte. It sits atop of the Continental Divide, the name given to the location because the rivers that flow from either side of the mountain range flow to the sea at different sides of the vast American continent.
A tour of the three cemeteries in Butte is a must for the Irish visitor. The youthful ages (35 to 55) of the vast majority of those Irishmen buried there will touch a soft spot in the hardest of hearts. As you drive along the space between the rows of graves, the names read like a list from the Irish telephone directory.
A visit to Butte would not be complete without a visit to World Museum of Mining, a 44-acre site dedicated to the mining world. On a tour of the mine yard, evidence of the Irish presence is quite prominent. St Patrick’s Church, Dr McGuire’s Surgery and the Ancient Order of Hibernian building occupy key positions in the village.
Those interested in the Irish diaspora should visit Butte, as it is there that an almost forgotten history remains visible.
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