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About This File
NHP Montana 3 Pak By blade2k5 & papab2000
Map Details and Information
Butte
Butte began as a mining town in the late 19th century. At first only gold and silver were mined in the area, but the advent of electricity caused a soaring demand for copper, which was abundant in the area. The small town soon became one of the most prosperous cities in the country, especially during World War I, and was often called "the Richest Hill on Earth". It was the largest city for many hundreds of miles in all directions. The city attracted workers from Ireland, Wales, England, Lebanon, Canada, Finland, Austria, Serbia, Italy, China, Syria, Croatia, Montenegro, Mexico, and all areas of the USA. The legacy of the immigrants lives on in the form of the Cornish pasty which was popularized by mine workers who needed something easy to eat in the mines, the povitica a nutroll which is a holiday favorite sold in many supermarkets and bakeries in the Butte area, and the boneless pork chop sandwich.
The influx of miners gave Butte the reputation as a wide-open town where any vice was obtainable. The city's famous saloon and red-light district, called the "Line", was centered on Mercury Street, where the elegant bordellos included the famous Dumas Brothel, regarded as the longest-running house of prostitution in the U.S. In the brick alley behind the brothel was the equally famous Venus Alley, where women plied their trade in small cubicles called "cribs". The red-light district brought miners and other men from all over the region and was openly tolerated by city officials until the 1980s as one of the last such urban districts in the U.S. The Dumas Brothel is now operated as a museum to Butte's rougher days. Close by Wyoming Street is home to the Butte High School (home of the "Bulldogs").
At the end of the 19th century, copper was in great demand because of new technologies such as electric power that required the use of copper. Three men fought for control of Butte's mining wealth. These three "Copper Kings" were William A. Clark, Marcus Daly, and F. Augustus Heinze.
In 1899, Daly joined with William Rockefeller, Henry H. Rogers, and Thomas W. Lawson to organize the Amalgamated Copper Mining Company. Not long after, the company changed its name to Anaconda Copper Mining Company (ACM). Over the years, Anaconda was owned by assorted larger corporations. In the 1920s, it had a virtual monopoly over the mines in and around Butte. The prosperity continued up to the 1950s, when the declining grade of ore and competition from other mines led the Anaconda company to switch its focus from the costly and dangerous practice of underground mining to open pit mining. This marked the beginning of the end for the boom times in Butte.
Butte was also known as "the Gibraltar of Unionism", with a very active labor union movement that sought to counter the power and influence of the Anaconda company, which was also simply known as "The Company." At one time, not only was there considerable activism by the predecessor organizations to the AFL-CIO, but Butte was also a hotbed of Industrial Workers of the World (IWW, or the "Wobblies") organizing. There were a number of clashes between laborers, labor organizers, and the Anaconda company, including the lynching of IWW activist Frank Little, and at one point, Pinkerton Agency guards hired by The Company resorted to gunning down strikers in the Anaconda Road Massacre. Between approximately 1900 and 1917, Butte also had a strong streak of Socialist politics, even electing a Mayor on the Socialist ticket in 1914.
In 1917, copper production from the Butte mines peaked and has steadily declined since. By WWII, copper production from the ACM's holdings in Chuquicamata, Chile, far exceeded Butte's production. The historian Janet Finn has examined this "tale of two cities"--Butte and Chuquicamata as two ACM mining towns.
Helena
The town was established on October 30, 1864, following the discovery of gold along Last Chance Creek by the "Four Georgians". Helena's main street is named Last Chance Gulch and follows the winding path of the original creek through the historic downtown district.
The town was originally named "Crabtown", after John Crab, one of the "Four Georgians". As other miners arrived and the town expanded, the name was changed to a more appealing title. After many suggestions, John Sommerville suggested the name of his home town, Saint Helena, Minnesota, but the pronunciation (Hel-E-na) did not suit the miners, who preferred HELL-en-a. Dropping "Saint" from the name as unnecessary, the new name Helena was adopted (defeating the name "Tomah" by only two votes).
The townsite was first surveyed in 1865 by Captain John Wood. However, most streets follow the chaotic paths of the miners, going around claims and following the winding stream. As a result, few city blocks match the ideal of 30 x 60, rather they have an irregular variety of shapes and size causing many major streets to end abruptly.
By 1888, about 50 millionaires lived in Helena, more millionaires per capita than any city in the world. About $3.6 billion (in today's dollars) of gold was taken from Last Chance Gulch over a 20-year period. The Last Chance Placer is one of the most famous placers in the western United States. Most of the production occurred before 1868. Much of the placer is now under the streets and buildings of Helena (but even as late as the 1970s, when repairs were being made to a Bank, a vein of placer gold was found under the Bank's foundation).
The official symbol of Helena is a drawing of "The Guardian of the Gulch", a wooden fire watch tower built in 1886, that still stands on "Tower Hill" overlooking the historic downtown district. This fire tower replaced a series of observation buildings, the original being a flimsy lookout stand built in 1870 on the same site, built in response to a series of devastating fires: April 1869, November 1869, October 1871, August 1872 and January 1874 that swept through the early mining camp.
In 1889, railroad magnate Charles Arthur Broadwater opened his fabled Hotel Broadwater and Natatorium west of Helena. Damaged in the earthquake of 1935, it was closed in 1941. It was demolished in 1976. Today, the Broadwater Fitness Center stands just west of the Hotel & Natatorium's original location, complete with an outdoor pool heated by natural spring water running underneath it.
In 1902, the Montana State Capitol was completed. Helena has been the capital of Montana Territory (since 1875) and the state of Montana (since 1889). A large portion of the conflict between Marcus Daly and William Andrews Clark (the Copper Kings) was over the location of the state capital.
The Civic Center and the Saint Helena Cathedral are two of many unique historic buildings in Helena.
Helena High School and Capital High School are both public high schools located in the Helena School District No. 1. Being the state capital, a large number of Helenans work for the state government. When in Helena, most people visit the local walking mall (built in the early 1980s after Urban Renewal and the Model Cities Program in the early 1970s had virtually gutted the downtown district, leaving little more than unpaved parking lots and unfinished projects behind for over a decade), a three block long strip of stores following the original Last Chance Gulch. There is a stream in a concrete bed running the length of the walking mall, simulating Last Chance Creek.
Helena also has a local ski area, Great Divide Ski Area, northwest of town near the ghost town of Marysville, Montana.
Whitefish
Whitefish is a city in Flathead County, Montana, United States. The population was 5,032 at the 2000 census. It is home to a ski resort called Whitefish Mountain Resort. Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer hails from Whitefish.
The Great Northern Railway was built through what is now Whitefish in 1904, which sparked development of the town. Early employers were the railroad and nearby logging industries. By the late 1940s, with the successful construction of a ski resort (a collaboration between outside developers and local businessmen) the tourism sector was becoming increasingly important.
In 2006, over 68,000 passengers embarked and disembarked through the historic Whitefish Depot, a stop on Amtrak's Empire Builder line, with some percentage of those being headed to the ski resort.
Map Specifics
Map Type: Real World
Region map size:
Butte: 6x7 Large tiles/42 total Author: blade2k5
Helena: 5x6 Large tiles/30 total Author: blade2k5
Whitefish: 4 x 5 Large Tiles/20 total Author: papab2000
config.bmp size: included with zip file
Dependencies: Either SC4 Mapper or SC4 Terraformer for importing.
Maps were created by taking USGS DEM data and converting the data through a series of processes to a 16bit grayscale png.
Install/Uninstall Instructions
Installing the Map
To install SC4M map file:
1. If you don't already have SC4Mapper, download it here and follow the install instructions.
2. Unzip this file.
3. Run SC4Mapper, click on 'create region'
4. Choose SC4M
5. Browse to the unzipped folder and point the map file .SC4M
6. Click on 'Save Region' and name it, and Quit SC4Mapper
7. Run SC4 and load the new region. The colors of the region in SC4 will be the same colors as SC4Mapper until you enter and save each city tile. But you have the choice to do it as you go and not right away.
SC4Terraformer
1. Create a new region folder in your Plugins\Region
2. Copy my config.bmp into the folder and overwrite the old one. (make changes to config.bmp file now if you want)
3. Open the new region you just created with SC4 Terraformer
4. Click on Import Image in the Global Tools Menu and browse for my SC4M file.
5. When file is imported click File - Save (the region is now saved to SC4
6. The colors of the region in SC4 will be the same colors as SC4TF until you enter and save each city tile. But you have the choice to do it as you go and not right away.
Start opening tiles!
Any comments and feedback welcomed. Thanks for looking and enjoy.
Credits
blade2k5 & papab2000 - Original map creation, scaling, importing. SC4TF modification.
Check out more maps by blade2k5 and NHP
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