I made a short stop in Butte on my way to the next WIN gathering. Up in the distance, I could see the statue of Our Lady of the Rockies up on the mountain top.
Right across the street from Walmart is a large cemetery, where Evel Knievel is buried. He was a native of Butte.
He is famous for his mile leap across the Snake River near here. There's a picture of his "sky cycle" on one side of his gravestone.
There were lots of people with foreign names in the cemetery, and I found out why later...
A friend and I went on walk around old Uptown Butte. There are lots of unique old buildings here.
This was my favorite.
Butte is famous for being one of the largest copper boomtowns in the American West. Fourteen headframes still remain over the old mine shafts.
Each one tells you how many miners died there. LOTS! That is why there are so many foreigners buried in the cemetery.
Good night!
In Butte is a BnB - Copper King Mansion - built in the late 1880s by W.A. Clark, the richest man in Montana due to mining and ruthless financial dealings including an unethical political career. For a fascinating read about a poor little rich girl who inherited all her father's wealth, I recommend "Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark" by authors Dedman and Newell.
ReplyDeleteInteresting about Evel Knievel. Didn't know where he was buried.
ReplyDeleteToo many workers in unsafe mines and shops lost their lives due to companies making a fast buck.
Be Safe and Enjoy your next WIN gathering.
It's about time.