ATDDTA(10) Back In Butte [271:4]

[Keith]

Lake may be "innocent," but she wasn't exactly grasping at straws  
wondering if the threat originated in Butte:

"History though is like the toxic dirt that has covered much of the  
ground in Butte after a century of mining for gold, silver, and  
copper. Whether a person recognizes its depths or dangers, or they  
simply deny its effects until they discover it unexpectedly while  
digging for something else, it remains an important factor that  
influences the present and the future as well."

         http://www.butteamerica.com/labor.htm

The creation of Amalgamated [Copper Company] in 1899 initiated a  
period of corporate warfare in Butte waged both underground in the  
mine workings and on the surface in the courtrooms and newspapers.  
After a bitter struggle between Heinze and Amalgamated resulted in a  
shutdown in 1903, paralyzing the entire Montana economy, Heinze  
succumbed, selling all of his mining interests to Amalgamated in 1906  
for $12 million. A 20 year feud between W. A. Clark and Marcus Daly  
came to an end by 1910 with Amalgamated acquiring Clark's most  
significant holdings. ACM Co. acquisitions continued with the  
purchase of the Butte & Superior Mining Company in 1940. By 1950 ACM  
Co. controlled all mining operations on the Butte hill (Malone 1981;  
Weed 1912; Anderson 1985).

         http://tinyurl.com/ysjr98