"St. Patrick's day in Butte" a Butte Travel Page by EllenH

Once called The Richest Hill on Earth, its location now serves as the beginning of the nation's largest Superfund area. 100,000 people called Butte home in its wild and crazy heyday. When the Irish immigrants arrived in New York to find no work, the word spread quickly to skip New York and head on out to Montana where work was plentiful. Copper mining....this is a mining town. Some of my "facts" come from talking with locals in the bar and talk they do. I do not know if it was because of being St. Patrick's day or if this town is always this friendly but I think this is one of the friendliest towns I have ever been to. One such fact is that even today, Butte has the highest Irish population per capita then any other U.S. city except Boston, MA. After WWI, the amount of copper was too much for the Industry to bare and Butte lost many of its 100,000 citizens.
Today it is a small city in Montana of 34,000 (college town, tech school) that absolutely comes alive on St.Patrick's day. The police are even friendly, as I was chatting with two just after midnight when St Urhos (finland made up holiday) ended and St. Patrick's day officially began. There were hundreds of people in the street intersection for the "painting of the shammrock" and the police told me the next night of St. Patrick's day, the whole town would look like that intersection with about 70,000 people invloved.
There is a great story about a dog that survived for 16 years in one of the most toxic places in the world. His name was "the auditor " and he was the mangiest looking mutt you will ever see, but he lived with the miners. In 1995 I think it was 168 snow geese landed in the pit never to fly out.

Ok maybe it was because it was the eve, or just turned St. Patrick's day and they were gearing up for much worse....but these guys were NICE. I tend to avoid cops when I have a guinness in my hand, but this was all part of the fun.

Nothing happens in our town for St. Patrick's Day but yet just 3 hours away is the biggest party I have ever seen (and this was the night before) I am thinking tradition here.