Butte, in full, Butte-Silver Bow, city in Silver Bow County, southwestern Montana. The city is situated in a mineral-rich region on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of about 1740 m (about 5700 ft). Energy research, medicine, tourism, and copper and molybdenum mining are important to the economy. Montana Tech of the University of Montana (1893) and a sports center are in Butte. Points of interest include the Butte Historic Districts; the Copper King Mansion (1888); the B'nai Israel Synagogue (1904), oldest operating synagogue in the state; and Our Lady of the Rockies, a 27-m (90-ft) statue of the Madonna, which overlooks the city. Settled by prospectors in the 1860s, it was originally a gold-mining and later a silver-mining center. During the 1880s, copper mining was begun and the city was reached by railroad. Butte was incorporated as a city in 1897. Declining copper prices in the 1970s and early 1980s forced many mines to close, after a century when nearly $22 billion in metals had been mined at Butte. Efforts to diversify the economic base have helped revitalize the community, which is named for a nearby butte. In 1977 Butte consolidated with Silver Bow County as Butte-Silver Bow city, sharing one government headed by an elected chief executive and other officials. Population 37,205 (1980); 33,994 (1998 estimate).
