30th Anniversary of Anaconda Shutdown

[bozbobcat]

I saw this online in a few state newspapers, and I thought it would be interesting to share. Thirty years ago, ARCO shut down the smelters in Anaconda and Great Falls, and shut down the Berkeley Pit two years later. This is a really important event in understanding the history of modern Montana.

First, here's an article about how the shutdown worked in Great Falls. The mayor at the time was Gene Thayer, and his leadership seemed to help Great Falls fare better than Butte or Anaconda.

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/articl ... -years-ago

Here is the Montana Standard's special feature section about Anaconda. I never saw the smelter works in operation, but some of the photos give a great sense of how big it was. The articles tell the story of how Anaconda seemed to survive this giant economic blow.

http://www.mtstandard.com/smelter/#vmix ... d=18689795

I don't know how interested people will be in this, but it's a big part of Montana's history. I've always been interested in Montana history (well, enough to get a master's degree in it...) so I thought I would share this. It's interesting to see the direction of Montana since the stack shut down 30 years ago today.

[seataccat]

I remember it when I was a small kid. Nobody in my family was working in a mine or smelter at the time so we were not directly effected. Although my grandfather, a polish immigrant worked in the mines in Butte for nearly thirty years. It put beans on the table for my family but it ultimately killed him in his late fifties. It also left the state of Montana with the largest Superfund site in the U.S. I have been meaning to read the book "Battle for Butte". it is on the pile and I am anxious to read it. Those people took workers rights seriously and fought the corporations tooth and nail for many things we take for granted today. Not many people make a living on the end of a muckstick like my grandfather did. If they did I don't think people like Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity would be so popular.

[WeedKillinCat]

I remember the stack in Great Falls. You scould see it for 25-30 miles. When you saw it, it meant you were close to home. When they blew it up, part of it survived. They had to back to Butte, get more TNT and do it again....

My grandpa and an uncle worked at the smelter in Great Falls.....

[John K]

I remember the stack in Great Falls. You scould see it for 25-30 miles. When you saw it, it meant you were close to home. When they blew it up, part of it survived. They had to back to Butte, get more TNT and do it again....

My grandpa and an uncle worked at the smelter in Great Falls.....

I grew up on a farm that was just 2 miles from the Canadian border, at the base of West Butte, which is part of the Sweetgrass Hills. This was slightly before my time, but my older brother said that on a clear day, you could see the stack from the top of West Butte, more than a 100 miles away.

[John K]

People sometimes wonder why Great Falls hasn't really grown significantly for quite a few years, after having been the largest city in Montana for a long time, and particularly when compared to Billings, Bozeman, and Missoula. But when you consider how many jobs were lost as a result of Anaconda shutting down here, it't actually fairly respectable that at least GF hasn't lost population since then.

[AlphaGriz1]

Great Falls lost a lot when I left..............I am not sure it will ever totally recover.

[John K]

Great Falls lost a lot when I left..............I am not sure it will ever totally recover.

It seems unlikely.

[whitetrashgriz]

Great Falls lost a lot when I left..............I am not sure it will ever totally recover.

in pounds?

[AlphaGriz1]

Great Falls lost a lot when I left..............I am not sure it will ever totally recover.

in pounds?

Sure PICK ON THE FAT GUY!!!

[Toucat]

I remember the bumper stickers: "Screw the whales, save Anaconda"