Butte, Montana is essentially a mining town. It began as a mining camp and grew into a city. This valley was crossed by Native-Americans then occasionally by an explorer or fur trader until gold was discovered in the 1860's. After that the town grew as prospectors and settlers came through. It was copper, however that became the useful ore to be mined.
Investors such as William Andrews Clark and Andrew Jackson Davis began developing Butte's mines, erecting mills to extract silver and gold from the mines. Butte's minerals made Davis Montana's first millionaire.
During the 1880's, Butte became the world's greatest copper producer. Railroad transportation, the Union Pacific in 1881 being the first line to service the city, allowed developers to build and equip smelters which quickly became the best in the world at extracting the metal for the ore. People from around the world were attracted to Butte to work in and operate the mines.
Enough of old Butte survives in the historic district and various residential areas to give the visitors an idea of what a bustling place the hill had been. Many of the old Victorian homes and businesses can be seen in the downtown historic part of the city.