BUTTE  , the largest

city of Montana, U.S.A., and the county-seat of Silver Bow county . It is'situated in the valley of Deer Lodge river, near its head, at an altitude of about 5700 ft . Pop . (1880) 3363; (1890) 10,723; (1900) 30,470, of whom 10,210 were foreign-born, including 2474 Irish, 1518 English-Canadians, and 1505 English; (1910 census) 39,165 . It is served by the Great Northern, the Northern Pacific, the Chicago, Milwaukee & Puget Sound, the Butte, Anaconda & Pacific, and the Oregon Short Line railways . Popularly the name " Butte " is applied to an area which embraces the city, Centerville, Walkerville, East Butte, South Butte and Williamsburg . These together form one large and more or less compact city . Butte lies in the centre of the greatest copper-mining district in the world; the surrounding hills are honey-combed with mines, and some mines are in the very heart of the city itself . The best known of the copper mines is the Anaconda . The annual output of copper from the Butte district almost equals that from all the rest of the country together; the annual value of copper, gold and silver aggregates more than $6o,000,000 . Although mining and its allied industries of quartz crushing and smelting dominate all other industries in the place, there are also foundries and machine shops, iron-works, tile factories, breweries and extensive planing mills . Electricity, used in the mines particularly, is brought to Butte from Canon Ferry, 75 M. to the N.; from the plant, also on the Missouri river, of the Helena Power Transmission Company, which has a great steel dam 85 ft. high and 63o ft. long across the river, and a 6000-h.p. substation in Butte; and from the plant of the Madison River Power Company, on Madison river 72 m .

S.E. of

Norris, whence power is also transmitted to Bozeman and Belgrade, Gallatin county, to Ruby, Madison county, and to the Greene-Campbell mine near Whitehall, Jefferson county . In 19ro Butte had only one large smelter, and the smoke nuisance was thus abated . The city is the seat of the Montana School of Mines (1900), and has a state industrial school, a high school and a public library (rebuilt in 1906 after a fire) with more than 32,000 volumes . The city hall, Federal building and Silver Bow county court house are among the principal buildings . Butte was first settled as a placer mining camp in 1864 . It was platted in 1866; its population in 187o was only 241, and for many years its growth was slow . Prosperity came, however, with the introduction of quartz mining in 1875, and in 1879 a city charter was granted . In the decade from 1890 to 1900 Butte's increase in population was 184.2% .