page_title: History of Butte, Montana
section_title: 1900–1945: Union activity and civil unrest
hierarchical_section_title: History of Butte, Montana / History / 1900–1945: Union activity and civil unrest
caption_attribution_description: English: Original Montana Tech building (then Montana School of Mines)
context_page_description: Butte is a city in southwestern Montana established as a mining camp in the 1860s in the northern Rocky Mountains straddling the Continental Divide. Butte became a hotbed for silver and gold mining in its early stages, and grew exponentially upon the advent of electricity in the late-nineteenth century due to the land's large natural stores of copper. In 1888 alone, mining operations in Butte had generated an output of $23 million. The arrival of several magnates in the area around this time, later known as the "Copper Kings," marked the beginning of Butte's establishment as a boomtown.
  The city was also the site of various political events relating to is industrial roots and expansive workforce, and was home to strong labor activism and Socialist movements in the early-twentieth century. After numerous mining-related disasters, and a steady decline in copper demand, Butte's Anaconda Copper company shifted to open-pit mining in the mid-twentieth century. Over several decades, mining took place at the Berkeley Pit before operations were ceased in 1983.
context_section_description: In 1900, Butte opened its first institution of higher education, the Montana School of Mines, which is contemporarily Montana Tech of the University of Montana. Between approximately 1900 and 1917, Butte had a strong streak of Socialist politics, even electing a Mayor on the Socialist ticket in 1914. It had also established itself as "one of the most solid union cities in America." After 1905, Butte became a hotbed of Industrial Workers of the World (IWW, or the "Wobblies") organizing. Rivalry between IWW supporters and the WFM locals culminated in the Butte, Montana labor riots of 1914, and resulted in the loss of union recognition by the mine owners. After the dissolution of the Miners' Union, the Anaconda Company attempted to inaugurate programs aimed at enticing employees. However, a number of clashes between laborers, labor organizers, and the Anaconda Company ensued, including the 1917 lynching of IWW executive board officer Frank Little.
  Sparked by a tragic accident more than 2,000 feet (600 m) below the ground on June 8, 1917, a fire in the Granite Mountain shaft spewed flames, smoke, and poisonous gas through the labyrinth of tunnels including the connected Speculator Mine. A rescue effort commenced, but the carbon monoxide was stealing the air supply. A few men built man-made bulkheads to save their lives, but many others died in a panic to try to get out. Rescue workers set up a fan to prevent the fire from spreading. This worked for a short time, but when the rescuers tried to use water, the water evaporated, creating steam that burned people trying to escape. Once the fire was out, those waiting to hear the news on the surface could not identify the victims. They were too mutilated to recognize, leading many to assume the worst. Of the 168 bodies removed from the mine, most had died due to lack of oxygen and smoke inhalation as opposed to the actual fire itself. Due to the efforts of men such as Ernest Sullau, Manus Duggan, Con O'Neil, and J. D. Moore, some survived, but the event was the largest hard rock mining accident in the history. The Granite Mountain Memorial was built to commemorate those who died in the accident. The disaster was also memorialized in the song, "Rox in the Box" on the album The King is Dead by the indie rock band, The Decemberists.
  The loss of miners in the incident sparked additional strikes and protests, as well as the establishment of the Metal Mine Workers Union, which led 15,000 workers to abandon their jobs. In 1917, copper production from the Butte mines peaked and steadily declined thereafter. By WWII, copper production from the ACM's holdings in Chuquicamata, Chile, far exceeded Butte's production. The historian Janet Finn has examined this "tale of two cities"—Butte and Chuquicamata as two ACM mining towns. In 1920, company mine guards gunned down strikers in the Anaconda Road Massacre. Seventeen were shot in the back as they tried to flee, and one man died. On August 3, 1921, the Montana Federation of Colored Women's Clubs held its inaugural meeting in Butte.
  Disputes between miners' unions and companies continued through the 1920s and 1930s in Butte, with several strikes and protests, one of which lasted for ten months in 1921. In 1923, protestors attempted to blow up the Hibernian Hall on Main Street with dynamite. Between 1914 and 1920, the U.S. National Guard occupied Butte a total of six times to restore civility. Further industrial expansions included the arrival of the first mail plane in the city in 1928, and in 1937, the city's streetcar system was dismantled and replaced with bus lines. The city's first airport, Butte Municipal Airport (now Bert Mooney Airport), was constructed south of the city proper in 1927, and operated frequent flights to and from Salt Lake City. In 1933, Northwest Orient Airlines expanded to service the airport from the West Coast and Midwestern states.
caption: Montana School of Mines, 1900.
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