The City that Ate Itself
Butte, Montana, and Its Expanding Berkeley Pit
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4156862 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Eric J Morser (Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 106 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 811-812 |
| Publication date | 2019-12-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of American History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0021-8723 • E-ISSN: 1945-2314 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/jahist/jaz628 |
| OpenAlex | W2993194912 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
Brian James Leech explores the often-tortured history of open-pit mining in the American West by focusing on the dramatic tale of Butte, Montana. His saga begins in the 1860s when the first miners rushed to the region in search of gold and silver. It was copper, however, that became king in Butte, and the Anaconda Copper Mining Company soon established control of the industry. Initially, copper mining was an underground adventure, and the promise of good-paying jobs drew workers from Ireland, Italy, Croatia, and other distant places. When these migrants arrived, they founded bustling ethnic neighborhoods and joined unions that provided a sense of community and solidarity during times good and bad. Anaconda's adoption of open-pit mining in the 1950s, however, transformed the world of Butte residents in often-troubling ways. People complained of explosions that rattled their homes. Miners struggled to adapt to a new workscape that robbed them of their skill, threatened their manhood, and made it harder for them to organize. Others wondered if the company would ever stop in its efforts to gobble up property and demolish neighbors to satisfy the hungers of the growing pit. Finally, when the company faced hard times and closed down most of its Butte mining operations in the 1970s and 1980s, both longtime inhabitants and hopeful newcomers struggled with salvaging their city and its reputation. In the end, Butte's story offers a disconcerting warning of the challenges that face people who have built their lives around extractive industries across the West and the nation
Adventure · Archaeology · Art history · Butte · Copper mining · Geography · Gold rush · American Environmental and Regional History · History
| Citations per year | 0.8 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2021 - 2024 (4) |
| Highly cited | No |