There is one place on earth that fascinates me more than anywhere else, Butte! I am convinced that I was an Irish miner (or a miner's wife because I am kind of a sally when it comes to sweating and getting dirty) in a past life. Since my first year in college, I would often call my mom and tell her I would be late because I had to stop and explore Butte America.
My first experience in Butte was near death in nature- I was traveling home to Stevensville, but wanted to see the Berkeley Pit. I was determined to see the giant pool of toxic water that everyone said was pitch black and would kill geese and ducks if they landed in it. I stopped and asked a gas station attendant for directions, and the kind man told me to turn left at the gate and keep on goin'! So, I jumped back in my car and followed his directions exactly. I turned left at the gate (note: gate had a sign that was promptly ignored that read "No Trespassing. Active Mine". I thought, "Duh- the Berkeley Pit is an active mine, and it super poisonous...they don't want just any yahoos driving around here..."I continued driving into what was turning into the side of a mountain. Still unconcerned, I turned my headlights on and rationalized that the pit was on the other side of this nifty tunnel. Moments later, a loader the size of a 5 story building with lights as bright as little baby suns came at me! I immediately started crying and threw my car in reverse! I made it out of the tunnel, turned around, and headed back to the gate finally convinced that maybe this was not the correct left turn I was supposed to take. By the time I made it to the bottom of the hill, the gate was closed. There was an emergency phone posted by the gate, and figured I had to swallow my pride and ask someone to open the gate for me so I could get home! Sobbing, I picked up the phone which automatically called some kind of control office.
"This is Dave.."
"Hi Dave, can you please open the gate?"
"Who is this? What are you doing in here? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
Sobbing, once again.."This is Kandi Raymond. I'm trying to find the Berkeley Pit and now I just want to go home. Will you please let me out?"
Later, after seeing the Berkeley Pit (which is conveniently located right off of a main road) I realized that my fascination was warranted, and I was definitely obsessed with Butte!
This is just a creepy picture for your viewing pleasure.
This gem is the Dumas Brothel. Back in the day, Butte had a booming red light district. The Dumas was one of the busiest places in town! It is rumored to be haunted and we even ran into Chris Fisk, who has been investigating the activity there. Click the link below to take a look at Tipsy History with Fisk to catch up on your Dumas history!
Tipsy History With Fisk
Owen's senior year of college, he played Manus Duggan, a real life hero in Butte. To prepare for the role, he grew a massive beard and only talked with an Irish accent for a good two months. I believe that is called method acting??
Anyways.....
Here is the story of Manus: (Lindsay, jump in here if I get anything messed up!) Manus was a miner who was trapped underground during the Granite Mountain-Speculator fire. Because of his efforts, many men made it out alive, but Manus' body was never recovered. The only trace they found of him was notes that he wrote to his wife and his mother. 168 men died in the fire underneath Butte.
We have made a date with Fisk to go ghost hunting this summer at the Dumas! And, it is kind of unspoken, but Lindsay and I have many more dates lined up to find some trouble around Butte.
