"Believe in Butte"

 

The day began early and with great promise. We awoke at Mallard's Rest, a sportsmen's access on the Yellowstone River just south of Livingston Montana. We had planned to go into Livingston for coffee, but the scenery was so spectacular we made coffee at the campsite and watched the sunrise over the mountains. The sun didn't disappoint.

  
We drove into Livingston and had breakfast at a café that is part of the Northern Pacific complex of buildings in Livingston. Apparently the train crews ate in the kitchen and the passengers ate in the dining room. We got to eat in the dining room, a treat for a train-lover like me!

We left Livingston and drove to Bozeman Montana, the home of Montana State University. Bozeman has been discovered by the "smart set". Property values have soared and the downtown is very trendy. Not at all in a bad way, but I doubt I could afford a house there.

 

 
We then drove to Butte. Butte, Montana had many nicknames. The most polite is " the Richest Hill on Earth". Butte is famous for its copper mines.

   

                                                              

Initially these mines were underground, but eventually the copper was mined in an open pit operation. The mining activity has slowed here and Butte has suffered. In the windows of some of the businesses are signs reading "Believe in Butte". I certainly hope it's true as we have experienced car trouble here in Butte. Apparently, our front axle has gone bad and is leaking fluid. Repair is not terribly expensive, (We Hope!) But there are no parts in Butte. We've been told that the parts will be here at 8:30 in the morning and that the repair will only take a couple of hours. With luck we should be back on the road and on our way to Missoula by noon time. (Where's Johnny when I need him? SEE: Entry 15 -  June4, 2017 Side Tracked!).

Butte also had a number of less complementary nicknames such as "The Armpit of the World" but I have many friends from Butte and I've always enjoyed their company. Evel Knievel hails from Butte. He seems to be fairly well thought of in town. One of my fraternity brothers was the golf pro at the Butte Country Club. He had his picture taken with Evel and with Mickey Rooney. My friend's name is Chuck and he was roughly the same stature and appearance as Mickey Rooney. He would take this photo to bars and impress girls by saying that his name was Chuck Rooney, the son of Mickey Rooney. People from Butte can be great storytellers.

I had another fraternity brother Tim who was the object of a vicious practical joke played by one of the fraternity brothers. The fraternity would allow members to stay in the fraternity over the summer if they would agree to pay the utilities, mow the lawn, and forward any mail to fraternity brothers who were elsewhere during the summer break. Tim was raised in a good Catholic family in Butte. A fraternity brother forwarded his mail, to Butte, but in care of the Dumas Hotel. The Dumas was the town's brothel! One afternoon Tim's mother got a call from Jean, the madam at the Dumas saying that they had some mail for Tim. Tim's mother was aghast. Jean was notorious enough in Butte that her name was known all over town. She only had to speak her name and Tim's mother knew something was amiss. Tim or his mother went down and retrieve the mail and the fraternity had a good laugh for several years to come.

Dumas Hotel 

The Butte Chamber of Commerce in the 60's or 70's adopted the motto: "Butte Montana, a Mile High, a Mile Deep and Everyone Is on the Level". Butte was a strong union town, so it was also a good place for Democrats. Harry Truman, during a low point in the 1948 election, came to Butte and felt rejuvenated. He recommended this visit for all Democrats who were unsure of their chances. Harry went on to win the '48 election. 

Butte has fallen on hard times and there are number of businesses with signs in their windows which say: "Believe in Butte".

We will be believing in Butte tonight and tomorrow morning and hopefully we will be back on the road. In the meantime enjoy these vintage and current pictures of Butte, "The Richest Hill on Earth".