City workers and councilmen refused to cooperate with the new mayor, and the company began to fire Socialists. Initially, the Anaconda Copper Mining Company tolerated socialist activities, but when the Socialists gained political power and threatened to implement reform, the company systematically undermined the party. The Socialist Party had grown within the expanding Montana labor movement. In 1903, the Socialist Party of America won its first victory west of the Mississippi when Anaconda voters elected a socialist mayor, treasurer, police judge, and three councilmen. The campaigns for the referendums were heated, ending with a victory for Helena, the location supported by Daly's rival William A. When Montana was admitted as a state in 1889, Daly lobbied to have the capital moved to Anaconda, and Montana legislators decided to hold two referendums in 18 to choose a capital city. Moore chose the name because of the important mining smelter already existing in the area. Instead, Daly accepted the name 'Anaconda', suggested by the United States postmaster of the time, Clinton Moore. In June 1883, Daly filed for a town plat for 'Copperopolis', but that name was already used by another mining town in Meagher County. The county has common borders with Beaverhead, Butte-Silver Bow, Granite, Jefferson and Powell counties.Īnaconda was founded by Marcus Daly, one of the Copper Kings, who financed the construction of the Anaconda smelter on nearby Warm Springs Creek to process copper ore from the Butte mines. The county area is 736.53 square miles (1,907.6 km 2), characterized by densely timbered forestlands, lakes, mountains and recreation grounds. Central Anaconda is 5,335 ft (1,626 m) above sea level, and is surrounded by the communities of Opportunity and West Valley. As a consolidated city-county area, it ranks as the ninth most populous city in Montana, but as only a city is far smaller.

Anaconda had earlier peaks of population in 19, based on the mining industry.

As of the 2020 census the population of the consolidated city-county was 9,421, and the US Census Bureaus's 2015-2019 American Community Survey showed a median household income of $41,820. Located at the foot of the Anaconda Range (known locally as the 'Pintlers'), the Continental Divide passes within 8 mi (13 km) south of the community. Jobs drew people to Montana who built and diversified its communities.Main Street, Anaconda Entering Anaconda, looking westĪnaconda, county seat of Deer Lodge County, which has a consolidated city-county government, is located in southwestern Montana, United States. Women, who were allowed to file mining claims and hold their own property, helped Montana elect the first woman to Congress, Jeannette Rankin, in 1916. The Copper Kings’ money influenced state politics heavily and even the location of the capital city. Montana's mining sector transformed its cultural and political history. Environmental abuses, such as the Berkeley Pit, had a major impact on Montana's 1972 Constitution, which features very strong legal language granting its citizens the right to a clean and healthful environment. Libby was named a Superfund site because of asbestos mining, while East Helena earned the same designation because of the smelting conducted there by the American Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO). Many Anaconda Mining Company ventures, including the smelters in Black Eagle and Anaconda, along with the Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area, were named Superfund (or abandoned hazardous waste) cleanup sites in the early 1980s by the Environmental Protection Agency. Unfortunately, these industries damaged the environment. Mining brought in secondary industries like smelters, cement plants, construction, utilities, heavy equipment, and transportation. Historically, Montana’s natural resources have formed the basis of its economy.

Anaconda montana history