Butte Underground

The Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives has taken oral histories and photographs to bring you this video. Dennis Murphy discusses the smells and experience of working underground in the mines of Butte, Montana.

[@garyfanning2769]

The voice on this video is Dennis Joseph Murphy of Butte. He was married to Martha Lorraine Fanning (Murphy). My uncle Dinny. This is a good testament for the men who worked underground in Butte (both my grandfathers - Fanning & Larsen). Harry D. (Chick) Fanning worked the mines in Butte and came from Virginia City, Nevada, The Comstock, to work and raise a family in Butte. His father and brothers worked the Comstock and many of them are buried in VC.
This is not a comment to add testimonial but to document that Dinny is the voice you hear here. Miss that man.

[@franktrask1264]

Metals have a smell. Copper mines in Nicaragua, Chile and Mt Isa in Australia smelt just like Butte (The Stewart specifically) in my experience. The Badger smelled of Zinc, just like the zinc mines at Mt Isa. I graduated from the School of Mines almost 60 years ago, and have spent 55 years in Australia, do not miss the heat of those mines!

[@steeplecab]

I worked for Montana Phosphate/Cominco at their extensive underground mines north of Garrison, and Dennis's comment about the smell of being underground really rings true. Nothing else smells quite like an active underground works. We didn't have the heat to contend with, but the other dangers were there. Maybe it was because we faced those dangers together every day, but a crew that worked together became closer than any family group. We were brothers who were ready to risk our lives to watch out for and protect each other. People who haven't worked in those situations can't really comprehend that close knit community, but there have been studies by psychologists that recognized and studied it. The miners that worked in Butte have my greatest respect.

[@TheSnoopindaweb]

🤔🤨💭➡ ~ I worked there at Phosphate, Mt. too. In the 70s, My shift bosses were Joe Hodnick and Dave Mitton. Yup❗ G-G.

[@steeplecab]

@@TheSnoopindaweb I wonder if you were on the opposite shift from me. The mine ran two shifts that switched days and evenings every two weeks. Everybody working underground switched and we never saw the other shift because there was a two-hour break between shifts for the smoke and gasses to clear between rounds. We had old Jim "Coyote" Miller for the upper levels at the Brock, but he may have retired shortly after I went to the Warm Springs side. I can see the other guy in my mind, but can't put a name to the face. I think Warm Springs was only working one shift when I was there, but we were were pushing the south side adit at the time. I was tramming for that crew at the time. Once that started to be developed, I can't say what happened.

[@TheSnoopindaweb]

@@steeplecab That was a while back. "Tap er light". G. Goltz. 😃.

[@steeplecab]

@@TheSnoopindaweb Yes, it certainly was. But I still remember the tight little crew we had. I wonder where some of them are now?

[@DigitalAndInnovation]

1:50 Really puts the lyrics "Get the water right down to your socks" into perspective.

[@curtiselwood4590]

Thanks...,

[@JS-gt5bh]

You could never pay me enough to be a police officer or underground hard rock miner!🤔

[@TheSnoopindaweb]

🤔🤨💭 ~ 0:20 That smell was the "Honey Pots" needing changed 😁 Yup⁉.

[@AmandaDuckhead-lc8rl]

My dad worked in The Con mine that's where's he lost his third finger.His name is Jackie Kittson Blackfeet Indian

[@ButteArchives]

It was a dangerous occupation. Thank you for this information Amanda. I will make note of this in case anyone ever does a study of Native Americans in Butte's underground.