When I proudly tell people I am from Butte, Montana, I find the typical response is a look of disgust with a quick and sarcastic apology. I have even had people tell me I should refrain from mentioning that. Butte is a unique town to say the least.
Butte has an awful reputation that is commonly known across the Big Sky country. There are a lot of common misconceptions about my hometown and I am here to convince you otherwise. Butte is a city full of fascinating history and has a one of a kind story. These are my top 7 reasons Butte is the best town in Montana.
1.) Butte is full of firsts
Butte is the most historical city in Montana, by far. It was even one of the first cities west of the Mississippi River to get power! It was also one of the first mines to strike for a safe workplace and a union. Butte is one of the very few cities in the US with an open container laws, meaning you can walk around town with an open beer in your hand.
2.) The “Big M” mountain
The “Big M ” mountain is an extinct volcano located at the top of the city. In 1910, the engineering students of the Montana School of Mines built a 67 feet tall and 75 feet wide letter M on the southeast slope of Big Butte. This ‘M’ is lit up by 150 lightbulbs at night. And on a night any sports team from Tech wins, the ‘M’ flashes in a “V’ for victory all night.
3.) St. Partick’s Day
Butte has the largest St. Patrick’s Day celebration in the United States per capita. From a 57 float entry parade to drinking green beer, Butte knows how to celebrate. It is so huge and widely known that you can watch a 24 hour live stream online of the festivities!
4.) Oldest Chinese-American Restaurant in the US
Butte has the oldest Chinese-American restaurant in America. Yes, you read that right, in Butte, Montana The Pekin Noodle Parlor is the oldest Chinese-American restaurant in the US currently running. This restaurant made its debut in 1911 and had been a tight family run business since.
5.) Butte is the Richest Hill on Earth
Butte gained its nickname “The Richest Hill on Earth” thanks to its mining of gold, silver, and copper. Mining has always been huge for this town. During WWI, the bullets used were composed of copper, meaning that Butte supplied the copper for ⅓ of the bullets used as well ⅓ of the copper supplied in the United States.
6.) Evel Knievel
Butte is home to the famous Evel Knievel. Evel Knievel is a professional daredevil and stunt man. During his career, it is estimated that Knievel had suffered more than 433 bone fractures, earning an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records as the survivor of “most bones broken in a lifetime”. He has since been buried in Butte.
7.) The Lady of the Rockies
Now this is a tear jerking story. The statue was the brainchild of Bob O’Bill who promised the Virgin Mary he would build a statue if his wife recovered from the cancer from which she was suffering. His wife recovered and O’Bill, with the help of many in the city of Butte, began building Our Lady of the Rockies in 1979. With the help of 70 volunteers, the third largest statue in America was erected. This statue can be seen from anywhere in Butte and it is lit all night!
Before sitting down to write I called my grandpa to hear his voice, to listen to his tone, to feel like I was young again sitting in his lap, listening to the hits of the 1940’s on a static radio. Summer hail storms pounding on the roof, sipping sweet lemonade, is where my grandpa shared his life stories. Some were funny, some serious, about life, determination and just being a badass.
You’re never too old to set goals.
My grandpa’s father died in his 50’s, before being able to experience the retirement he wishfully envisioned and dutifully saved for. Determined to avoid this unfortunate circumstance, my grandpa retired at 58 after a dedicated career in the telephone industry. Now 93, my grandpa has been retired for 35 years, a unicorn amount of years in today’s workaholic world. However, a monotonous life of idleness was not on my grandpa’s retirement agenda.
Snorkel in tow, goggles sucked to his face and flashing $300 Speedo swim bottoms, my grandpa swam like a fish. Always seeking a competitive edge, he persuaded my grandma to buy him top-of-the line swim trunks as they promised to make him faster during his morning laps. Completing his final 5k at 87, he participated to claim the trophy each year for his age bracket. Albeit the fact he was often the sole competitor in his age group.
While his physical feats are notably impressive, his competitive and goal setting mindset is what continually motivates me today. My grandpa set an annual goal to swim a mile on his birthday each year, swimming his final birthday mile at the ripe age of 92. Short term goals were always realized as he set out to fix the plumbing by March and the deck by May. Looking ahead, he set goals to be present at all major family milestones. My grandpa was 86 years old when I entered high school. Consciously choosing to ignore statistics, my grandpa concluded he would be there to watch his youngest grandchild of six walk across the stage at her high school graduation. Looking out at the bleachers as I received my diploma, his smile radiated from the acknowledgement of both our accomplishments.
The takeaway? Strive to always progress and stay in motion. Whether it be professional, personal, or desire-driven, setting goals force one to constantly evolve and grow.
There is always time to make someone smile.
“I sure hope the rain keeps up.”
“Why?”
“So it doesn’t come down.”
“Is that your face or did your pants fall down?”
If I have one regret from my childhood, it’s not recording every witticism that spewed unfiltered from my grandpa’s mouth. Butte, America born and bred, his jokes were rooted in the rough-and-tumble yet celebrated era of the small mining town in the 1940s. His clever, and sometimes inappropriate sayings left family, friends, and strangers clutching their gut with uncontrollable laughter. While writing his jokes is an injustice to their effect, his timely delivery made for fits of giggles, regardless of repetition.
Most everyone can think of someone who is immediately liked, can talk to anyone, and befriends everyone who breathes the same air. For me, that’s my grandpa. He always set aside time to get to know someone, share stories, and swap jokes. In our day to day routines it’s too easy to be buried in our phones, focused only on getting from A to B, uninterested in those around us. Before my grandpa left a restaurant, airplane, or any other public space, he knew most everyone in the room. He knew where they were from and who their parents were. My grandpa’s infectious personality is one I always admired and it is the reason he remains unforgettable to so many.
Food for thought: How much better would our days be if we set aside time to simply make someone smile every day?
Show your swagger.
“I’m the finest guy that ever put on a pair of shoes.”
My grandpa at his 92nd birthday, giving old age the finger.
The signature phrase of his 92nd birthday, my grandpa is a man with unlimited confidence, using his high self-esteem and healthy ego to wow others, show humor, and exercise his charm. On a short visit to the ER last year, he falsely convinced the nurses he rostered for the Chicago Cubs back in the day. Now, this isn’t entirely untrue. In his twenty-year-old prime, he played for the Cubs Farm League (Minor League) based out of San Francisco. At a pay of $113 a month, not including room and board, my grandpa left the Farm League after a short time unable to make due on his measly salary. Sharing his fabricated story with his nurses, the nurses doted heavily on him, captivated by his athletic history. Without a doubt in my mind, my grandpa received the best medical care in the ER that day.
His contagious confidence has appeared on multiple occasions, with family events being no exception. At the time, my grandparents had been married for 67 years. In front of all 200 wedding guests, the DJ asked for the key to a long-lasting marriage to which my grandpa simply responded, “She knew she had a winner.” Never ashamed of his best features, my grandpa boasts about his “pretty feet”, a compliment given by a war nurse decades ago. His baldness is even a source of confidence for him, constantly reiterating, “God made a lot of beautiful heads. The rest he covered with hair.” To his credit, my grandpa does have some good-looking feet and has always rocked a naked head. Lesson to take away? Find your source of swagger, whether it be baldness or pretty feet and work it.
“Getting old ain’t for sissies.”
One of my grandpa’s all-time favorite quotes, his youthfulness always seemed to make this quote irrelevant; but today, his hands hurt. He can’t see well. Each time he gets up from his chair, he wobbles like he is going to fall, and he occasionally does. His personality has stiffened with his joints and his laughter is harder to find, buried underneath self-induced guilt of being no longer able to take care of his lawn, race me in the backyard, or swim a mile. Some of this piece is written in the past tense, as age has hardened him and a lack of physical freedom has contained his once free-flowing spirit. But, no matter what age has done to my grandpa, he remains my hero, my unshakable source of faith and my continual motivation to succeed.
At the end of our phone call, like he does every time, my grandpa hangs up with, “I love you sweetheart, more than you’ll ever know.”
Did your favorite Montana natural wonder make the list?
10. Ch-paa-qn Peak west of Missoula, Montana
Ch-paa-qn (pronounced “cha-pock-qwin”), is unique in that it is one of very few peaks in the state that possesses at least 4,000 feet of prominence.
9. Gunsight Pass in Glacier National Park
The Gunsight Pass Trail is one of the most spectacular hikes in Glacier National Park, the diversity and variety of the landscapes, wildlife and vegetation are unbelievable.
8. Humbug Spires near Butte, Montana
The Humbug Spires are a grouping of over fifty granite spire formations that sit just a couple miles South and East of the hook in the continental divide, which makes its Westerly shift from the Boulder Mountains to the Anaconda Range just north the little town of Divide.
7. St. Mary Peak in Montana’s Bitterroot Mountains
Saint Mary Peak is one of the most accessible 9,000+ ft peaks in the Bitterroot Mountains and offers spectacular views.
6. Belly River Valley along the Ptarmigan Tunnel Trail in Glacier National Park
Ptarmigan Tunnel Trail is a tough trail, but it is worth it. Words cannot express the feeling you get after coming out of tunnel into the Belly River Valley.
5. Flathead Lake in northwest Montana
Flathead Lake is the largest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River in the contiguous United States.
4. Great Bear Wilderness near Glacier National Park
The Great Bear Wilderness is on the west side of the Continental Divide, just south of Glacier National Park. In its 286,700 acres, it boasts some wonderful recreational opportunities for all ages.
3. Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area in Southeast Montana
A landscape of sheer cliffs towering 1,000 feet above a ribbon of blue water. An area sought the world over for magnificent fishing and as a place where wild horses still run free. A landscape overlaid with 10,000 years of human history.
2. Triple Divide Peak in Glacier National Park
This spire is the three-faceted jewel in the Crown, dividing Rocky Mountain waters among the Columbia’s plunge to the Pacific Ocean, the Misssouri-Mississippi’s slide to the Gulf of Mexico, and the Saskatchewan River’s amble to the Arctic Ocean.
1. The Chinese Wall in Montana’s Bob Marshall Wilderness
With no roads dissecting the area and no motor or mechanical vehicles allowed, the Bob Marshall Wilderness hails as one of the best preserved mountain ecosystems left in the world. This 1 million acre wilderness holds one of the most brilliant natural features of the Rockies- the Chinese Wall, a 1,000 ft deep limestone escarpment that continues on for miles.
Honorable Mention: Yellowstone National Park
While not included here because so little of it lies in Montana, Yellowstone National Park is spectacular. It sits on top of a dormant volcano and is home to more geysers and hot springs than any other place on earth. Approximately 50 percent of the world’s hydrothermal features are at Yellowstone National Park.
