I can almost see that nine now

@Rudy1962 It can be illusive

I guess

@phxbillcee thanks for the support

In all honesty, Haemish, what is the place like?

@brentan
I love it there - it’s the largest historic district in the US. The population has dropped from 100,000 in its heyday to 30,000 now. There was an incredible amount of wealth generated from the mines, which can be seen in the buildings and architecture which were state of the art at the time. Mining was what made Butte - the abandoned headframes still stand and 10,000 miles of abandoned tunnels are now flooded. Currently mining goes on as open pit mining, which has created the largest superfund environmental cleanup site in the nation.
The town sits around 5,000’ elevation and is surrounded by mountains. It has the state’s mining and engineering college, as well as a private college.
There’s a wonderful 3 day international folk festival the second weekend in July.

I'd love to see it. I never got closer than Boise which probably isn't really close but I loved those mountains overlooking the city. I was working in Costco in Washington State at the time and all the men there dreamed of living in Montana. Wonderful memories.

@brentan
I love Costco stores- the closest is 60 miles away in Helena.

I really enjoyed and learned a great deal about Butte and Montana history from this book - if you’re interested

Michael Punke
Fire and Brimstone: The North Butte Mining Disaster of 1917
Reprint Edition
ISBN-13: 978-1401308896, ISBN-10: 9781401308896

@Haemish1 Thanks very much! I'll have a look out for it.

@brentan
Montana, where men are men, and the sheep know it.

You are correct, sir.

@Haemish1 A lot of my people (Irish) lived there. I believe they got a bad name fighting the owners of the mines there. I don't know if they still make up some of the population in Butte.

@brentan
Yes!
Butte at one point had the second largest Irish population in the US. Butte was under martial law for over 7 years due to labor and political divisions around the time of WWI. Although there were many nationalities there (mines had “no smoking” signs in 16 different languages), the Irish left their mark - seen now with the number of bars with Irish names and red headed children - the St Patrick’s day parade is the highlight of the year

@Haemish1 I must look into it again. I never thought there was an issue as late as WW1. Butte (I mean but) 16 different languages all working in the mines. That's a veritable Babel! I hope, and I trust, the Irish are not still looked on as the notorious Molly Maguires. It's good, I think, to become part of the scenery.