Marcus Daly

Daly emigrated from County Cavan, Ireland, to the United States as a young boy, arriving in New York City. He 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 extremely rich silver diggings now known as the Comstock Lode, in 1860.

Daly gained experience in the mines of the Comstock under the direction of John William Mackay and James G. Fair. While working in the mines of Virginia City, Daly met and befriended George Hearst and partners James Ben Ali Haggin and Lloyd Tevis, co-owners of the Ophir Mining Company. (Hearst's son was William Randolph Hearst). In 1872, Daly would recommend purchase by the Hearst group the Ontario mine, near Park City, Utah. In ten years, the Ontario produced $17 million and paid $6,250,000 in dividends, and made many millions for Hearst, Tevis and Haggin.

Their business friendship was to extend for many years and help establish the Anaconda Copper Mine in Butte, Montana. 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. The Walkers purchased the mine, installed Daly as superintendent and awarded him a fractional share of the mine. The Walkers became the namesakes of Walkerville, which formed around the Alice.

Always an energetic engineer and geologist with a keen eye for paying ore, Daly noticed while working underground in the Alice, that there were significant deposits of copper ore. He gained access into several other mines in the area and concluded that the hill was full of copper ore. He envisioned an ore body several thousand feet deep, some veins of almost pure copper that would be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. He urged his employers, the Walker Bros. to purchase the Anaconda and when they refrained, Daly bought it. 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, 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. The ranch included a stable called Tammany Castle, built for his prize-winning thoroughbred Tammany, a racetrack, and veterinary clinic, amongst other operations like apple orchards and cattle. These were built around the family's residence, the Daly Mansion. In order to bring water to the agricultural fields, Daly invested in several ditch companies to build irrigation canals throughout the valley. Shortly thereafter he became involved in the timber industry in the Bitterroot Valley, purchasing acres of timberland and building sawmills to provide fuel for the smelters in Anaconda. Daly continued to invest in the area, developing infrastructure for the growing workforce. Daly opened the Bitterroot Development Company Store in 1890, which became the Valley Mercantile 18 years later.