Daly Mansion
By Brian D’Ambrosio
Marcus Daly was a colorful mining tycoon known as the “Copper King”. A hard-working Irish immigrants, Daly (made from 1841 to 1900) his great fortune in the mines of Butte in the 1880s and created the Anaconda Mining Company. Daly was the cities of Anaconda, supporting smelled his mines, and Hamilton support its timber industry.
In the late 1880s, Daly built a summer residence for his family in Hamilton today, the center of the beautiful Bitterroot Valley. Daly Anthony Chaffin homestead purchased the existing in 1886, including the farmhouse and had it completely rebuilt in a majestic Queen Anne-style Victorian mansion.
“This is a very exciting place,” said Kim Morris, Director of Development for the Daly Mansion. “It makes many people think” Gone With the Wind. “If you come here, you can step back a hundred years. It is quite fascinating.”
The Daly Mansion and the estate as “Riverside” to maintain because of its proximity to the Bitterroot River, known and served to inspire people. Foreign facilities, swimming pool and a play house for children were all taken in Riverside after the arrival Daly family.
After Marcus Daly’s death in 1900, Margaret, his widow, the house was renovated in the present structure. The Georgian Revival style mansion was designed by architect AJ Gibson, Missoula identified and completed in 1910.
The Mansion occupies 24,000 square feet on three floors, with 25 bedrooms, fifteen bathrooms, fireplaces and seven, five of which are covered with imported Italian marble.
Some of the primary rooms include a wide living room, formal dining room, music room, a conservatory, a living room on the floor, a billiards room third floor, rooms and a trophy, which was annexed in 1914.
The Mansion grounds showcase fifty species of trees, a tennis court, a greenhouse, a boathouse and a laundry.
Daly, who had a tremendous love for horse racing, came to the Bitterroot Valley for two compelling reasons to buy: vast areas for timber and to establish a breeding farm for thoroughbreds. The Copper King eventually won several large ranches and farms. While Daly lived, had 1200 head of horses on the 22,000 acres held company he called the Bitterroot Stock Farm.
In the late 1880s, Daly bought up some sawmills in the area and very quickly producing a timber industry on the ground adjacent to the Bitterroot River. Marcus Daly’s next big idea was to bring a couple of men from another state to design and develop his fantasy city.
They were James Hamilton and Robert O’Hara, who arrived from Minnesota in 1890. The city was named after Hamilton, and O’Hara was the first mayor. Daly planned community had a bank, shops, shops, a school, and four churches. Hamilton was taken about 1894th
“This is a beguiling place,” said Don Erdman, the Daly Mansion as a volunteer tour guide. “The more you come here, the more passionate you are about the historical past of the Bitterroot’s. This is a great place and learn about the past. The more you come here, the more you will feel as if you a part of that history. ”
After Mrs. Daly’s death in 1941, the mansion until 1987 when it was opened to the public climbed.
The Mansion and grounds offer tours, special projects and events, including picnics, weddings, meetings, detective stories, puppet shows, concerts, and a unique Christmas Open House. The Daly Mansion recognized as a National Historic Site, is by the State of Montana owned and operated and maintained by the Daly Mansion Preservation Trust.
“Marcus Daly is a really big part of Montana history,” said Morris. “This house is part of the same Montana history, too.”