Steward an integral part of Butte's mining history - Montana Standard

Like its neighbor, the Original Mine, the Steward has withstood the test of time. Deep within its depths, the mine, in its heyday, yielded its fair share of minerals.

Of course, each Butte mine has its unique history. But what makes the Steward stand out is the fact that the mine was not only one of Butte’s largest producers of copper, but silver as well.

Below are some more interesting facts about the mine, which is located just off of Main and Woolman streets:

--More often than not, the mine has been pronounced and sometimes misspelled as the Stewart. The correct spelling is Steward.

--John Marshall Steward, a Missouri native, founded the mine more than 140 years ago, and soon had a wooden headframe built.

--While a prosperous venture for Steward, by the early 1880s, it was in the ownership of Copper King W.A. Clark. In 1898, Clark had the wooden frame replaced with a massive steel headframe.

--The Steward’s headframe stands at 126 feet, which makes it approximately 37 feet taller than Our Lady of the Rockies. It also weighed in at approximately 80 tons.

--By 1900, the mine had a depth of approximately 1,000 feet, with a working force of 140 miners.

--Twelve years later, the number of miners working at the Steward had more than tripled.

--The Anaconda Company purchased the Steward, along with the Original, in 1910.

--Hey, someone turn the heat off! Well that was not going to happen if you worked at the Steward, which was more than a bit warm underground. In fact, the Steward and the Belmont were considered Butte’s “hottest” mines.

--It could get so hot in the Steward that miners referred to the 3,200-foot level as the “Chinese laundry.”

--Other Butte mines John Steward owned at one time included the Chief Joseph, the Nipper and the Raven.

--Apparently mining was not Steward’s only passion. He dabbled in real estate, owned a saloon, and sold musical instruments at his store on Main Street.

--In 1909, fine dining took place underground at the Steward. Apparently members of the Massachusetts Street Railway Association were visiting and a banquet in their honor took place at the 2,100-foot level. The menu included such dishes as Merry Widow drill sauce, sliced Minnie Healy apples, Parrot Lode chicken, Hidden Treasure salads, Never Sweat lobster and Olympia oyster cocktails.

--In its lifetime, the Steward produced over 1 million pounds of copper.

--According to a 1982 Montana Standard article, the Steward held the record for the deepest depth from 1923 to the late 1930s. By that time, it had reached the 3,800-foot level. It was surpassed by the Mountain Con Mine.

--There were five compartments to the Steward shaft. The two main compartments were used to transport the miners. Two other compartments were used for hauling ore and pipe; the fifth was for ventilation.

--John Steward had numerous mining ventures throughout his business career. He died in 1908 and was buried in the family vault at Mount Moriah Cemetery.

--For the Steward, the end came much later. One of the last working mines in Butte, it was completely shut down around 1981.