� Anaconda - (Copper) shaft 900 feet deep; ore output, 600 tons daily. The ore goes to Anaconda for smelting, producing 90 tons of matte daily from 26 matting furnaces. [As defined by Malone: �Matte is the product which emerges from the initial stages of smelting copper sulphide ore. It is heavily composed of concentrated metals and is thus more easily transported for final smelting and refining.�(Malone 9)]
� Alice - (Silver) shaft 800 feet deep; ore output, 100 tons daily. Their mill of 80 stamps produces $100,000 per month in bullion. Ore averages $36 in silver and gold; cost of mining and milling about $18 per ton.
� Mountain View - (Silver and Copper) depth of shaft 600 feet, with two ore veins 20 and 21 feet each; ore averages 20% copper. �In sight� ore is over $2,000,000; 5,000 tons on the dump averaging 20% and 8,000 tons, 8%.
The cost of concentrating copper ore was reported to be $1 to $1.10 per ton: cost of roasting, $3 to $3.50 per ton; cost of matting about $7 per ton.
Polk estimated that the population of Butte would be 50,000 by 1890. Amusements listed for Butte in 1885 included the Grand Opera House, the Renshaw Opera House and the Theatre Comique; the latter of which was on Main between Park and Galena�right in the vicinity of the red-light district! [The 1902 City Directory lists an Irene Lavelle boarding at 52 E. Galena; and 109 the following year. A �spoiled dove� perhaps?]
The Sisters of Charity ran the St. James Hospital; which accommodated 65 patients. There was also a private hospital at the Alice Mine in Walkerville; and the Miners� Hospital on the corner of Idaho and Galena which accommodated another 40 patients.
This special notice brought a chuckle: �Remember! The postage on letters to be forwarded to any part of the United States is now two cents per ounce��
Butte had plenty of churches. The Catholic�s could take daily mass at 8 am; Sunday mass at 8:30 am, 10:30 am and 4 pm, followed by catechism at 3 pm. The membership at St. Pat�s was 2,000 in 1885. There were three Episcopal churches: St. John�s (125 members) and two also aligned with the Methodists (142 members and 35 members, respectively); and one each Presbyterian, Congregational (40 members) and Baptist (50 members).
The Masons and Order Eastern Star were alive and well in Butte; despite the city being a Catholic stronghold. There were Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Ancient Order Foresters, Independent Order Good Templars, etc. Other groups included: the Ancient Order of Hibernians (of which Michael Whalen was a member), Butte Athletic Club, Butte Liederkranz (singing society), Butte Miners� Union, Butte Rod and Gun, Butte Typographical Union, the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) and the Independent Order Red Men. It is doubtful whether the latter were truly native Americans.
My earliest assumption had been that Michael Patrick Lavelle and the O�Grady family traveled westward together. What we do know from obituaries of both Michael Patrick and his wife, Ellen, is how long the two had resided in Butte at the time of their respective deaths. When Michael Patrick died in 1938 the newspaper hailed him as a �Pioneer Butte Resident� who had resided �here for the past 60 years.� He was 75 at the time of death, making him 15 years of age when he came to Butte. Ellen, likewise, was hailed as a �beloved pioneer resident�some 80 years� and received, unprecedented for a woman of that period, an obituary on the front page of the Montana Standard in 1958 when she passed on. Ellen would have been but 6 years old when Daniel O�Grady brought his entire family to Butte.
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