Hamilton, Montana – Bitterroot Valley

Located in the middle of the Montana’s Bitterroot Valley, is Hamilton, the valley’s largest community. Hamilton was founded by copper king Marcus Daly in the late 19th century and named after James W. Hamilton, a Daly employee, who provided the who right-of-way to the Northern Pacific Railway. Marcus Daly and was known as one of the “Copper Kings” (Marcus Daly, William Clark and Augustus Heinze). Daly’s original company Anaconda Copper Mine became the 4th largest company in the world by 1920. He later established Bitterroot Stock Farm and it was said that he paid for the development of the town of Hamilton, owing at one point over 28,000 acres. He bought small sawmills west of the Hamilton and established a lumber making industry on the banks of the Bitterroot River. The Copper Kings had epic battles in the surrounding area over control of the copper mining industry. William Rockefeller and Henry Rogers (founders of Stanford Oil 1870-1911 one of largest oil company in the world) also played a large chapter in Montana history. While working in the Nevada during the gold rush in Virgina city, Daly became friends with George Hearst, James Ben Ali Haggan (horseracing) and Lloyd Tevis (Wells Fargo), encouraging them to invest in the Ontario Mine near Park City, Utah making them all very rich in later years.

Hamilton’s population is approximately 5,000 with the surrounding areas populated at 14,000 people. The entire Bitterroot Valley’s population is approximately 43,806 with the small towns of Stevensville, Darby Florence-Carlton, Corvallis, Sula and Victor. Downtown Hamilton has several historical buildings with shops, restaurants, beautiful street scapes with trees and streetlamps. Every July, Daly Days occurs with arts, crafts, food vendors, sidewalk sales. Other events thru the year are here.

The Daly Mansion, a 3 story 24,000 sf home was built in 1886 with over 50 rooms, 25 bedrooms and 15 bathrooms located on 46 acres. The property once housed over 300 racing horses, the largest in the country. There are over 26.5 acres of lawns, over 400 trees (some over 100 years old) and several historical outbuildings. Now a state-owned property managed by the Daly Mansion Preservation Trust and the University of Montana, it is open for tours, events and weddings May 14 thru Oct 8th.