List your TOP 3 most beautiful towns in Montana (Bozeman, Helena: homes, university)

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by mtboy

I know ..... the pit looks huge from satellite! I mean when you look at it from the ground it doesn't seem that big. But from above!! Recently, I noticed a great picture of Butte but couldn't get it. It currently is on the Montana Tech Website (mtech.edu). great picture of uptown Butte with the pit in the background. I suggest everyone check it out cause the brick building look awesome, that is the Butte I think is pretty.

Yeah, my first thought when I saw it on sat view was -- my goodness, I don't remember it being that awesome, and I drove by it often enough on my way up to Elk Park! By the sat view, it looks like you could shovel all of Butte into the hole and there'd be room left over! It ought to be designated as a national monument, if it isn't already.

Couldn't find the photos on mtech.edu site unless you mean the one they're using for a menu backdrop?

Speaking of scale -- take a look at the Pyramid at Giza (in Egypt) on Google maps sat view. (It will find it if you just use keywords, it doesn't have a proper address.) Now pull back.. keep pulling back... and note that the structures of the modern city right next door are utterly dwarfed by the pyramids.

Like the Butte Pit, it goes to show what mankind can do, armed primarily with muscle and a length of surveyors' string

[rambrush]

Yep Buttes a nice place as well. We look out off of our property down towards the pit and the lady of the rockies. Pretty good view
Then we also had the National Folk music festival in Butte which was a pretty good time.

[Timberwolf232]

My vote would be for the "non town" or all the places a person can get lost in exploring the backcountry. To me that beats towns hands down!

[ElkHunter]

Originally Posted by GEORGIAINMT

Elkhunter, you gave me my laugh of the day! Especially adding Jim Town! You are naughty!

For real:
I like Trout Creek, Thompson Falls, Polson.

Man, been to Jim Town, loved it. Green trees, flowing creeks, wonderful snow.... Ok, just a big green pile of glass. But it could be home to somebody. haha

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by Timberwolf232

My vote would be for the "non town" or all the places a person can get lost in exploring the backcountry. To me that beats towns hands down!

On that note, I like the ghost towns up by Monarch -- that's a non-town in the wilderness. Well, unless it's gotten McRanched since then

[Timberwolf232]

Originally Posted by Reziac

On that note, I like the ghost towns up by -- that's a non-town in the wilderness. Well, unless it's gotten McRanched since then

Ghost towns are awesome. I've got a file cabinet full of old topo maps that cover the entire state. Theres some old places not listed on the newer GPS and computer based maps. I haven't been out as much in the last couple of years. (toddlers take up a lot of time!) We used to do a lot of running around in the Little Belts. Lots of old mining cabins and stuff out there.

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by Timberwolf232

Ghost towns are awesome. I've got a file cabinet full of old topo maps that cover the entire state. Theres some old places not listed on the newer GPS and computer based maps. I haven't been out as much in the last couple of years. (toddlers take up a lot of time!) We used to do a lot of running around in the Little Belts. Lots of old mining cabins and stuff out there.

As a lifelong map freak who thinks wandering back roads is great entertainment, I am drooling all over my keyboard

I used to have a collection of forest service/USGS maps for all around the Bozeman area; they're awesomely detailed. Great for cruising around just lookin' at old stuff. Dunno if you can still get 'em, tho some libraries carry USGS high resolution maps.

The state of Nevada sells extreme detail maps for each county -- they go right down to every building that's on record. Never had a use for NV maps, but wonder if MT has anything similar.

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by Timberwolf232

Ghost towns are awesome.

So... what are the best ghost towns now? and I don't mean tourist traps like Virginia City. What's left out there, that hasn't been taken by the weather or vandalism, and is still recognisable as a town or ranch or ??

Tho this is kinda like huckleberries... a lot of the best ones, people likely don't want to expose to more visitors, especially those who might not respect the past.

[Timberwolf232]

I forget the name of the place off the top of my head, but the last one I saw was just west of Basin. Lots of mining cabins with misc stuff from the era. Tin cans, old bottles etc (some not even broken) I found some cast iron cookware and even an old horse bit. (Couldn't bring myself to take the stuff, so it could still be there unless someone's gotten to it in the last couple of years. ) I betcha if a person had a metal detector and some time to kill they could find some pretty neat stuff out there.

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by Timberwolf232

I forget the name of the place off the top of my head, but the last one I saw was just west of Basin. Lots of mining cabins with misc stuff from the era. Tin cans, old bottles etc (some not even broken) I found some cast iron cookware and even an old horse bit. (Couldn't bring myself to take the stuff, so it could still be there unless someone's gotten to it in the last couple of years. ) I betcha if a person had a metal detector and some time to kill they could find some pretty neat stuff out there.

I'm not familiar with that area... Yeah, I have mixed feelings about the "loot" from such sites. On the one hand, it "belongs" there. On the other, if it lays there long enough, it'll be lost to history entirely.

Oh! I just remembered something I bought for a buck at the local thrift shop -- it's a clear glass bottle bearing this text:

Butte Brewing Company
Checo
trademark
Butte, Mont.
Contents 7 flu ozs.

On the bottom it's got BB CO.

It's a very heavy bottle for its size, just over 7 inches tall and weighs 14 ounces!!

Here's an article about the company (and others):
BozemanTributary.com (http://mtstandard.com/articles/2007/02/27/tributary/featurestories/hjjcjhhciijbij.txt - broken link)
"German brewer Henry Muntzer established the Butte Brewing Company in 1885."
According to this article, "Checo" was their soft drink label during Prohibition, so my bottle evidently dates to that era.

Some more info I found on Tavern Trove: Butte Brewing Company of Butte, Montana, USA (http://www.taverntrove.com/breweries/195.asp - broken link)
Butte Brewing Company of Butte, Montana, USA
Trade Names for the brewery at 220 North Wyoming Street, Butte, MT:
Henry Muntzler, Butte Brewery (220 North Wyoming Street) 1885-1899
Butte Brewing Co. 1899-1918
Brewery operations shut down by National Prohibition in 1920
Issued U-Permit No. MT-U-1206 allowing the resumption of brewing operations 1933
Butte Brewing Co. 1933-1960
Butte Brewing Corp. 1960-1963
Closed in 1963
Status of the building is unknown.

And now I'm reminded of the beautiful old buildings the Great Falls breweries were in....

...and of Big Stack potato chips, which made all others taste stale. Are they still around?