50TH REUNION BUTTE HIGH SCHOOL BUTTE MONTANA: February 2022

DIASPORA

The Butte High Class of ’72 will be having our 50^th Class Reunion this summer 2022. For those of us who no longer live in Butte, we can be called the diaspora, a scattered population whose origin lies in Butte Montana. When I know of so many people who make the journey back in time to the Beara Pennisula in Ireland to renew their relationship with the ancestors, I know that is part of why I return to Butte.

Butte is who I am.

Which made me wonder, why is that people do not come to reunions? Yes, we were the largest graduating class ever from Butte High. Oh yeah, and then the mines closed. Some of us left because we needed jobs and there was not much of that in Butte in the 70’s. Some do not return because the family is gone or they do not know anyone in Butte anymore. For some, it is leaving bad memories of suffering during strikes or losing family members to mining accidents and black lung disease.

For those who need any reminder, Atlantic Richfield bought the failing Anaconda Company in 1977. By 1979 there were 1800 employees. In January, 1980 ARCO laid off 300 people in Butte and Anaconda, closed the Washoe Smelter and the refinery in Great Falls, where another 1500 jobs were lost. In June 1981, another 400 employees in Butte were laid off and 200 more in January 1982. By April 1982, ARCO laid off another 270 employees, ending underground mining by shutting off the pumps in the mines. The last miner stopped working in 1983.

I come to Butte to see my family. I visit the Butte Archives to read how people lived and wander among the graves in the cemeteries. I take my non-Butte husband on the tours to the Lady of the Rockies, the Smelter, the Steward, the Mining Museum, Mai Wah Society Tour, and the Old Historic Tours, like the one that includes the Speakeasy and the jail (now termed a dungeon). Last time I was there, I ran into a walking tour of uptown. Then there is the East Tour that includes a brothel, Finntown, Cabbage Patch Shanty Town. I enjoy the Walking Trail Park along Silver Bow Creek and the trail with historic signage that goes from the Mountain Con Mine to Montana Tech. I always go the Granite Mountain Mine memorial where Mabel Noonan’s boyfriend died and where we placed a brick in honor of our mother and father. Hopefully, I will have a chance to do the Trolley Tour during our reunion.

Some people come to reunions to see old acquaintances or make new friends among folks who have a similar history. No one in Portland Oregon or Vancouver Washington can truly know me because they do not know Butte. I love to hear the Butte accent. As I said at a memorial for one of my brother’s, I am jealous of the solidarity and the close relationships of people who were able to stay in Butte. When I come to Butte for reunions, I want to listen to Butte people, hear how town has changed, and not changed. I want to feel that I am a part of the Butte past and be a voice for Butte’s future.

Time’s a wastin. Now is the time to make that Butte tribute trip. Bring your children, grandchildren, and great grand children so they also know who you are. Talk your family into meeting up in Butte for family reunions that same week. Take the tour of the old high school and allow yourself to remember the fun and angst of our teen years and maybe let go of the resentments of childhood. Say a prayer together for those who have died and renew the determination of your eighteen –year-old self to live your life to the fullest.

Irene Finley

Centerville