27 Facts About Marcus Daly

Marcus Daly was an Irish-born American businessman known as one of the four "Copper Kings" of Butte, Montana, United States.

Marcus Daly sold newspapers and worked his way to California in time to join the gold rush on what was to become Virginia City, Nevada, and the fabulously rich silver diggings now known as the Comstock Lode, in 1860.

In 1872, Marcus Daly would recommend purchase by the Hearst group the Ontario mine, near Park City, Utah.

Marcus Daly originally came to Butte in August 1876 to look at a mine, the Alice, as an agent for the Walker brothers of Salt Lake City.

Always an energetic engineer and geologist with a keen eye for paying ore, Marcus Daly noticed while working underground in the Alice, that there were significant deposits of copper ore.

Marcus Daly gained access into several other mines in the area and concluded that the hill was full of copper ore.

Marcus Daly envisioned an ore body several thousand feet deep, some veins of almost pure copper that would be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Marcus Daly founded his fortune on the Anaconda Copper Mine in Butte, after selling his small share of the Alice Mine, for $30,000.

In 1886, Marcus Daly bought property in Hamilton, Montana, building a summer residence and creating the Bitterroot Stock Farm, a 22,000 acre ranch and horse breeding facility.

Marcus Daly continued to invest in the area, developing infrastructure for the growing workforce.

Marcus Daly opened the Bitterroot Development Company Store in 1890, which became the Valley Mercantile 18 years later.

The Anaconda began as a silver mine, but Marcus Daly's purchase was for the copper, found to be one of the largest deposits known at the time.

Prices on surrounding properties dropped and Marcus Daly quietly purchased them.

Marcus Daly built a smelter to handle the ore, and by the late 1880s, had become a millionaire several times over, and owner of the Anaconda Mining and Reduction Company.

Marcus Daly owned a railroad, the Butte, Anaconda and Pacific Railroad to haul ore from his mines to his smelter in Anaconda, a city he founded for his employees to work the smelters.

In 1894, Marcus Daly spearheaded an energetic but unsuccessful campaign to have Anaconda designated as Montana's state capital, but lost out to Helena, which was supported by William Andrews Clark.

Marcus Daly was active in Montana politics throughout the 1890s, because of his opposition and intense rivalry with fellow copper king, and future US Senator, William Clark.

Marcus Daly tried to keep Clark out of office by lavishly supporting Clark's opponents.

In 1898, Marcus Daly went looking for a buyer of his company.

Marcus Daly entered into negotiations with William Rockefeller and Henry H Rogers of John D Rockefeller's Standard Oil of Ohio.

Marcus Daly was made president of the company in 1899 and died the following year in 1900.

Marcus Daly invested some of his money in horse breeding at his Bitterroot Stock Farm located near Hamilton.

In 1891, Marcus Daly became the owner of Tammany, identified as Horse of the Year in 1893.

Marcus Daly owned and stood Inverness, sire of Scottish Chieftain, as well as Hamburg, Ogden, and The Pepper.

Marcus Daly arranged the breeding of the great Sysonby, ranked number 30 in the top 100 US thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century by Blood-Horse magazine, though Daly died before the horse was born.

ARCO ceased mining in Butte in 1980 and shut off the deep pumps in 1982, ending what Marcus Daly had begun almost exactly 100 years before.

Riverside, the summer home of the Marcus Daly Family, is located in Hamilton, Montana and open to visitors.