Daly Mansion — Attraction in Montana

Was taken up here by a group of friends on a weekend away to Hamilton, Montana, the home of one of my college dormmates. I was particularly interested in it because the mansion was built by Marcus Daly, one of the 'Copper Kings' of Butte Montana - a Irishman born in County Cavan.

He moved to America when he was young, first New York and then San Francisco. He travelled around the West Coast mining towns and worked his way up through the mining companies. Copper was just coming into its use in telephone and electricity wires and Daly struck a fortune in Montana.

I found the personal story behind the mansion interesting, how he made his fortune, how he was 30 when he married his 18 year old wife Margaret and what he did with his money - building this mansion.

How it was difficult to get an understanding of his life and times from his point of view. According to the website ''he was not a man to share confidence or talk about himself.''

I also found his legacy interesting. Although the smelter provided people with well paid jobs at a particular time, it wasn't sustainable. There seemed to be little long term planning by him or the 'Copper Kings'. The Copper industry that had given life to an area and community had equally decimated it ( though it could be argued what the community have done there since has been remarkable) when the industry stopped. The world had moved on and the industry had used the resources available.

His wife and kids went off and did their own thing when he died.

I walked around the mansion and looked at the front entrance after hearing the stories of his life and wondered what he would have thought of it all.

Was it worth it? Could it have been done differently?

The museum itself was great. The mansion has been beautifully restored and the guides were very...

We went there for an event. The grounds were amazing and well kept. The staff inside and out were very pleasant. We were a bit perplexed as they kept their regular schedule tours rather than getting extra help and allowing more self guided tours. Our group and at least 20 other people we talked to were excited to tour the mansion, but they didn't have enough slots open unless you wanted to stay well past the end of the event. For those of us that were from out of town and the heat, just wasn't doable for us. Many felt they really missed out on added revenue. Also they may want to either add another food truck or ones that could handle bigger crowds. Running out of ingredients, long wait times and cold food was many of the comments we heard. This wasn't the mansion's fault, but something to think about. We hope to be able to...

The Daly Mansion, or Riverside, was the summer home of Copper King Marcus Daly, his wife Margaret and their 4 children for 70 years. It survived 40 years of neglect before a Daly Mansion Trust was formed to save and restore the Mansion to its former glory. The grounds of the Mansion are part of your step back in time, with sweeping ash trees, maples and oaks are part of the grounds Daly planted himself. The 25 bedrooms contain many of the original Daly pieces and as you wander through, either by self-guided tours or with knowledgeable volunteers, you learn more about the Daly family, their history and impact on our Nation's history. Thank Mrs. Daly for sharing her home with you the day you are there, and don't think twice about making a donation to make sure your experience at the Daly Mansion is available to future...