Marcus Daly

Marcus Daly

Marcus Daly (December 5, 1841 – November 12, 1900), was an Irish-born American businessman known as one of the three "Copper Kings" of Butte, Montana, USA.

Early life

Daly emigrated from Ireland to the United States at the age of fifteen, arriving in New York City.

Career

Daly founded his fortune on the Anaconda Mine in Butte, Montana, which he bought with money from various backers, including George Hearst (father of William Randolph Hearst) in 1880. The Anaconda began as a silver mine, but copper was discovered there and found to be one of the largest deposits known at the time. He built a smelter to handle the ore, and by 1895 had become a millionaire and owner of the Anaconda Copper Mining (ACM) Company. Daly was active in Montana politics throughout the 1890s and also founded the town of Anaconda, Montana, near his smelter.

Thoroughbred horse racing

Marcus Daly invested some of his money in horse breeding at his Bitter Root Stock Farm located near Hamilton, Montana, and in 1891 became the owner of Tammany, said to be one of the world's fastest racehorses. He also arranged the breeding of the great Sysonby, ranked number 30 in the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century by Blood-Horse magazine. Daly died before the horse was born.

Legacy

Daly's legacy was a mixed one for Anaconda, Montana. From 1885 to 1980, the smelter was one of the town's largest employers and provided well-paid jobs for generations. When the smelter closed in 1980, however, 25% of the town's workforce was put out of work and the town has not recovered. The smelter itself was torn down as part of environmental cleanup efforts in the 1990s, although the smokestack is still visible above the town.

Daly's legacy was equally mixed for Butte, Montana. The Anaconda Company was bought out by Standard Oil in 1899, and by the 1920s controlled mining in the city. It continued to be one of the state's largest employers and a mainstay of the state and local economies until the 1970s. In the 1950s, the ACM began open-pit mining in Butte, creating a steadily growing pit east of the main business district. In the mid-1970s, copper prices collapsed and the ACM was bought out by the Atlantic Richfield Company (Arco). Arco ceased mining in Butte in 1982, ending what Daly had begun almost exactly 100 years before. See Berkeley Pit for the lasting impact. Montana Resources now (2006) operates an open pit copper and molybdenum mine in Butte, and also recovers copper from the water in the Berkeley Pit.

A statue of Daly stands at the main entrance to Montana Tech of the University of Montana (formerly the Montana School of Mines) at the west end of Park Street in Butte.

Marcus Daly's summer home and stock farm, Riverside, is located in Hamilton, Montana and is open to visitors. See http://www.dalymansion.org for details.

The Marcus Daly Memorial Hospital, located in Hamilton, Montana, was incorporated on December 18, 1929.

See also

• Anaconda Copper Mining Company
• Hennessy's

External links

• Bio on Irish Identity website
• National Mining Hall of Fame bio
• Montana Resources