From Missoula to Butte, I decided to take Montana Highway 1 instead of Interstate 90.
Compared to many places in the country, it seemed almost unfairly beautiful – all the multi-colored (including
pink!) granite walls, water falls and sparkling Georgetown Lake.
Driving the route just before sunset, I finally felt like Montana smacked me in the face, as if to say: “Here you are, back in the garden, finally.”
Had I not just
spent the night in Phillipsburg, I’d have stopped
somewhere to camp.
But several miles down the highway, I got to Ananconda, and instantly fell in love… which sort of doesn’t make sense… The whole town — founded by copper magnate Marcus Daly — was constructed around a humongous smelter. Droves of working class families had their lives wrapped up in, hanging from a thread and sometimes destroyed by the profitability and work conditions at the plant, which was finally closed in 1980 because of dwindling copper ore.
There was a sort of depression and mass exit at that time. But in its heyday, Anaconda was quite the bustling city, with lots of cool buildings and its own silver screen theater.
As I drove through, I estimated based on the traffic, number of businesses, size of the public buildings and high school, there were
probably 40,000 or so in the city.
I was surprised to learn it’s now less than 8,000!
Another thing I noticed right away was the prominence of the Catholic cathedral and how tightly together all the houses are built. They were constructed by immigrants and migrants from the east coast who came to work at the processing plant, which explains why this rural Montana town has such a funky personality — as if it were a misplaced east coast city.
Only the stack remains from the smelting plant. At 585 feet, though, it’s a salient reminder.
In town, I went through a great exhibit of quotes and pictures that fleshed out the story of the miners’ lives.
This house is for sale:
And here’s one with some copper detailing:
The cathedral (one of several cool looking churches I didn’t make it inside):
And to keep things thematic, a little Americana action: