Someplace New, Yet Familiar
One of our favorite views of Butte, Montana and one of it’s famed gallows frames.
In the fall of 1996, Andrea and I both found ourselves living in Butte, Montana. While our reasons were different, we had each been here before. Visiting our families many times as children, yet never knowing one another until now.
Traveling here brought similar feelings for both of us throughout our lives. We loved seeing the lights of Butte twinkling in the valley below just after you had crossed the Continental Divide. The site of the Berkley Pit made you feel tiny no matter how much you had grown since your last visit. The houses lining the hill sides so the miners could walk to work quickly, provided a unique architectural landscape that seemed to defy gravity.
Butte has a stubbornness, a toughness, and a very “I’ll prove it to you mentality”, similar to most American mining towns. Yet it is a place where no one is a stranger and people will do anything for you. It is as they say, “Butte, America”!
That special day back in September, 1996
Our wedding day in Butte, MT.
This was the place Andrea and I first met. Where we fell in love, got married, and our family began. This small mining town is indelibly linked to our family’s past and future. It is a place we love to return to, enjoying all the feelings of nostalgia that come with it.
This winter as we headed to Arizona, we had the same goals of most people. Avoid the cold and snow of a northern winter, enjoy the desert, and hopefully catch the springtime desert bloom. What we did not realize was the connection we would feel to a couple of the small towns we visited.
The pit outside, Ajo, Arizona
Ajo and Bisbee are off the beaten path and hours away from major cities. Both are former copper mining towns, and just like Butte, each of them has a “pit”. While the beauty of mining towns is debatable for some, they both were familiar and inviting to us. The artwork, music, the stairs that lead to mysterious places in Bisbee, the Spanish style town square in Ajo, it all appealed to us.
Bisbee, Arizona is full of quirky character.
The houses on the hills. The winding and twisting roads that were less planned and just sort of happened during the mining boom all felt familiar. Like most American mining towns, they face an uncertain future and have had to rebuild themselves. To do so has required their imagination to see the possibilities, and to rely heavily on that mental toughness. It’s probably why we like them so much.
While they are several hours drive away from each other and in completely different climates, (Bisbee is at 5522 feet in elevation so it’s much cooler than most of Arizona. Ajo is in the heart of the Sonoran Desert where it much hotter and drier) it was the common thread of being a mining community that gave them the feel we loved most.
Both Ajo and Bisbee have embrace the arts as they redefine themselves, post mining.
They are both on our “let’s come back and stay longer” lists for our future Arizona visits. If you are down this way and looking to get away from the crowds of the big cities, these two towns may be just what you are looking for.
If traveling through Montana is part of your upcoming plans be sure to plan a day or two to stop in Butte. You may be surprised at all the American history that has roots in “The Mining City”.
See you all down the road!