Daly, Marcus
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|caption=Marcus Daly | |caption=Marcus Daly | ||
|birth_date={{birth date|1841|12|5|mf=y}} | |birth_date={{birth date|1841|12|5|mf=y}} | ||
| − | |birth_place=[[Derrylea]], [[Ireland]] | + | |birth_place={{flagicon|Ireland}} [[Derrylea]], [[Ireland]] |
|death_date={{death date and age|1900|11|12|1841|12|5|mf=y}} | |death_date={{death date and age|1900|11|12|1841|12|5|mf=y}} | ||
| − | |death_place=[[New York City]], [[United States|U.S.]]}} | + | |death_place={{flagicon|United States}} [[New York City]], [[United States|U.S.]]}} |
| − | '''Marcus Daly''' (December 5, 1841 – November 12, 1900), was an Irish-born American businessman known as one of the three "[[Copper Kings]]" of Butte, [[Montana]]. | + | '''Marcus Daly''' (December 5, 1841 – November 12, 1900), was an Irish-born American businessman known as one of the three "[[Copper Kings]]" of Butte, [[Montana]]. Twenty five years after arriving in the United States in 1856 at the age of 15 years old, Daly purchased the Anaconda mine 1881, named after the description of how General [[Ulysses S. Grant]]'s armies surrounded [[Robert E. Lee]]'s troops "Like a giant Anaconda" ending the [[American Civil War]]. Daly bought the mine from fellow Irish adventurer Michael Hickey who was unable to afford the machinery to mine below 150 feet. Daly bought the mine with the backing of [[George Hearst]] and his associates, [[James Ben Alli Haggin]] and [[Lloyd Tevis]]. |
| + | |||
| + | Initially the Anacaonda was known as a silver mine until a huge vein of copper hundreds of feet deep and at least 100 feet wide was discovered. It was a fortune waiting to be made, because copper was coming into widespread everyday use for [[telegraph]] [[wire]] and [[electricity]]. [[Thomas Edison]] had just built the world’s first [[electricity|electric]] [[power plant]] in [[New York City]] and the use of the telegraph was widespread and growing. By 1892, Edison had received the patent for the first two way telegraph machine. Copper was selling for between eighteen and twenty three cents a pound in the early 1880’s but smelting costs were very high because the ore had to be shipped to smelters across the [[Atlantic Ocean]] in Swansea, [[Wales]] in the [[United Kingdom]]. Daly established the first copper smelter in North America and reduced the cost of smelting dramatically. | ||
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| + | He was so successful that Anaconda became a household word in the United States. Daly purchased coal mines to fuel his finances, bought forests to supply his timber, and built power plants to supply the mines. He also established a number of banks, and a newspaper, the influential ''Anaconda Standard''. He supported many causes, including [[Irish nationalism]] and the building of the parish church in his native parish of Crosserlough. When he died he was one of the major figures in American industry and was known as "The Copper King." | ||
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| + | Throngs of people attended his memorial [[Mass]] in Butte. His obituary from the ''Butte Miner'' read "Marcus Daly was . . . A true empire builder, he was a man of extreme. A friend to his friends, to his enemies remorseless and unforgiving. Daly, a father figure watched over his family, his friends and his employees with a heartfelt benevolence. It must be noted that when he ran the Anaconda Mining Company, he treated his employees better than most corporations of the time. More than any other man he built the Montana mining industry, he was a true son of Ireland, which he never forgot and helped."<ref>Lynch, Geraldine; [http://www.hoganstand.com/general/identity/geese/stories/marcusdaly.htm Marcus Daly], ''Irish Identity''. Retrieved December 20, 2007.</ref> | ||
== Early life== | == Early life== | ||
| − | Daly was born in [[Derrylea]], [[Ireland]] the youngest of eleven children of a small farming family. At 15 years old Marcus departed Ireland. He arrived in [[New York City]] with few material belongings no money or skills. He began new life doing odd jobs until he had saved up enough money to buy passage to [[San Francisco]]. He bought a ticket on the [[Isthmus of Panama]] and set out for [[California]] where a sister lived. | + | Daly was born in [[Derrylea]], [[Ireland]] the youngest of eleven children of a small farming family. At 15 years old Marcus departed Ireland. He arrived like most pre-in [[New York City]] with few material belongings no money or skills. He began new life doing odd jobs until he had saved up enough money to buy passage to [[San Francisco]]. He bought a ticket on the [[Isthmus of Panama]] and set out for [[California]] where a sister lived. |
| + | |||
| + | Born on December 5th 1841, in Derrylea, a townland just outside the town of Ballyjamesduff, Marcus Daly was the youngest of eleven children of a small farming family. It was the pre-Famine era and things were close to desperate. Starvation and disease were rampant. Derrylea is situated on the Granard road out of Ballyjamesduff and this area like vast parts of Cavan saw a mass exodus of its people circa 1847-1855. Age mattered not , only survival and a 15 year old Marcus departed these shores in 1856. He arrived in New York and like most immigrants of the time had few belongings, very little money, education or skills. For the first five years he did odd jobs such as a messenger boy until he had saved up enough money to buy passage to San Francisco via the Isthmus of Panama and then overland by the coast of California where a sister lived. | ||
== Career== | == Career== | ||
Revision as of 19:26, 20 December 2007
| Marcus Daly | |
 Marcus Daly
| |
| Born | December 5 1841 Derrylea, Ireland |
|---|---|
| Died | November 12 1900 (aged 58) New York City, U.S. |
Marcus Daly (December 5, 1841 – November 12, 1900), was an Irish-born American businessman known as one of the three "Copper Kings" of Butte, Montana. Twenty five years after arriving in the United States in 1856 at the age of 15 years old, Daly purchased the Anaconda mine 1881, named after the description of how General Ulysses S. Grant's armies surrounded Robert E. Lee's troops "Like a giant Anaconda" ending the American Civil War. Daly bought the mine from fellow Irish adventurer Michael Hickey who was unable to afford the machinery to mine below 150 feet. Daly bought the mine with the backing of George Hearst and his associates, James Ben Alli Haggin and Lloyd Tevis.
Initially the Anacaonda was known as a silver mine until a huge vein of copper hundreds of feet deep and at least 100 feet wide was discovered. It was a fortune waiting to be made, because copper was coming into widespread everyday use for telegraph wire and electricity. Thomas Edison had just built the world’s first electric power plant in New York City and the use of the telegraph was widespread and growing. By 1892, Edison had received the patent for the first two way telegraph machine. Copper was selling for between eighteen and twenty three cents a pound in the early 1880’s but smelting costs were very high because the ore had to be shipped to smelters across the Atlantic Ocean in Swansea, Wales in the United Kingdom. Daly established the first copper smelter in North America and reduced the cost of smelting dramatically.
He was so successful that Anaconda became a household word in the United States. Daly purchased coal mines to fuel his finances, bought forests to supply his timber, and built power plants to supply the mines. He also established a number of banks, and a newspaper, the influential Anaconda Standard. He supported many causes, including Irish nationalism and the building of the parish church in his native parish of Crosserlough. When he died he was one of the major figures in American industry and was known as "The Copper King."
Throngs of people attended his memorial Mass in Butte. His obituary from the Butte Miner read "Marcus Daly was . . . A true empire builder, he was a man of extreme. A friend to his friends, to his enemies remorseless and unforgiving. Daly, a father figure watched over his family, his friends and his employees with a heartfelt benevolence. It must be noted that when he ran the Anaconda Mining Company, he treated his employees better than most corporations of the time. More than any other man he built the Montana mining industry, he was a true son of Ireland, which he never forgot and helped."[1]
Early life
Daly was born in Derrylea, Ireland the youngest of eleven children of a small farming family. At 15 years old Marcus departed Ireland. He arrived like most pre-in New York City with few material belongings no money or skills. He began new life doing odd jobs until he had saved up enough money to buy passage to San Francisco. He bought a ticket on the Isthmus of Panama and set out for California where a sister lived.
Born on December 5th 1841, in Derrylea, a townland just outside the town of Ballyjamesduff, Marcus Daly was the youngest of eleven children of a small farming family. It was the pre-Famine era and things were close to desperate. Starvation and disease were rampant. Derrylea is situated on the Granard road out of Ballyjamesduff and this area like vast parts of Cavan saw a mass exodus of its people circa 1847-1855. Age mattered not , only survival and a 15 year old Marcus departed these shores in 1856. He arrived in New York and like most immigrants of the time had few belongings, very little money, education or skills. For the first five years he did odd jobs such as a messenger boy until he had saved up enough money to buy passage to San Francisco via the Isthmus of Panama and then overland by the coast of California where a sister lived.
Career
Daly founded his fortune on the Anaconda Copper Mine in Butte, Montana, which he bought with money from various backers, including George Hearst (father of William Randolph Hearst) in 1880. The Anaconda began as a silver mine, but copper was discovered there and found to be one of the largest deposits known at the time. He built a smelter to handle the ore, and by 1895 had become a millionaire and owner of the Anaconda Copper Mining (ACM) Company. Daly was active in Montana politics throughout the 1890s and also founded the town of Anaconda, Montana, near his smelter. In 1894 Daly spearheaded an energetic but unsuccessful campaign to have Anaconda designated as Montana's state capital. Another note in politics was his competiton with fellow copper king, William A. Clark. He tried to keep him out of office by lavishly supporting Clark's opponents.
Thoroughbred horse racing
Marcus Daly invested some of his money in horse breeding at his Bitter Root Stock Farm located near Hamilton, Montana, and was the owner/breeder of Scottish Chieftain, the only horse bred in Montana to ever win the Belmont Stakes (1897).
In 1891, Daly became the owner of Tammany, said to be one of the world's fastest racehorses in 1893. He owned and stood Inverness, sire of Scottish Chieftain, as well as Hamburg, Ogden, and The Pepper. He also arranged the breeding of the great Sysonby, ranked number 30 in the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century by Blood-Horse magazine. Daly died before the horse was born.
Legacy
Daly's legacy was a mixed one for Anaconda, Montana. From 1885 to 1980, the smelter was one of the town's largest employers and provided well-paid jobs for generations. When the smelter closed in 1980, however, 25 percent of the town's workforce was put out of work and the town has not recovered. The smelter itself was torn down as part of environmental cleanup efforts in the 1990s, although the smokestack is still visible above the town.
Daly's impact was equally mixed for Butte, Montana. The Anaconda Company was bought out by Standard Oil in 1899, and by the 1920s controlled mining in the city. It continued to be one of the state's largest employers and a mainstay of the state and local economies until the 1970s. In the 1950s, the ACM began open-pit mining in Butte, creating a steadily growing pit east of the main business district. In the mid-1970s, copper prices collapsed and the ACM was bought out by the Atlantic Richfield Company (Arco). Arco ceased mining in Butte in 1982, ending what Daly had begun almost exactly 100 years before. See Berkeley Pit for the lasting impact. Montana Resources now (2007) operates an open pit copper and molybdenum mine in Butte, and also recovers copper from the water in the Berkeley Pit.
A statue of Daly stands at the main entrance to Montana Tech of the University of Montana (formerly the Montana School of Mines) at the west end of Park Street in Butte.
Marcus Daly's summer home and stock farm, Riverside, is located in Hamilton, Montana and is open to visitors.
See also
- Anaconda Copper Mining Company
- Hennessy's
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Glasscock, Carl B. The War of the Copper Kings; Builders of Butte and Wolves of Wall Street. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Co, 1935. OCLC 721474
- Hoover, W. H. Marcus Daly, 1841-1900, And His Contributions to Anaconda; an Address in Montana. New York: Newcomen Society in North America, 1950. OCLC 919329
- Place, Marian T. The Copper Kings of Montana. New York: Random House, 1961. OCLC 1408064
External links
All links Retrieved December 9, 2007.
Credits
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- ↑ Lynch, Geraldine; Marcus Daly, Irish Identity. Retrieved December 20, 2007.
