Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1936-02-15
Woman Resident Of Butte For SO Years Was Never in Helena


Fifty wears a resident Of Butte
Win never q single trip TO Helena
~ anv other city or town east OF the
Continental divide. This Is the rec
ard Of Miss Guenifa Brecke, Who lives
With her sisters at Butte. Although
the east side Of the Rockies, Miss
Brecke has not been q stay-at- home
She has made q number OF trips 20
California. one Of them In the 80's,
nth her sister who fled the city with
her baby one winter day because the
sulphur fumes were so bad that the
infants health was threatened
Miss Brecke, who IS now o4 years o.
age and still in good health, came 70
P7,tte from Albuquerque, N M, in 1886
ia company with her sister Mrs. anna
Nav Huffman. Mrs. Petra Nicely, an
other sister. came In 1891. Albuquerque,
which is now a thriving city, was IN
those DAYS merely a one-street village.
Just q Mining Camp
Butte" she said, was just min
ing camp. Mud on the streets or roads
and smoke in the air were the two OUT
standing characteristics. Nobody even
dreamed the town would grow as large
or last so long"
Miss Brecke was born in Norway
July 10. 1852. She was one of IL chill
dren whose father died while she was
q young girl. She landed In Boston IN
1873, spent two years in Chicago. then
went TO Albuquerque and then 70
Butte. The entire Brecke family came
to America. One Of them returned 70
Norway. All are now dead except the
three sisters and one brother. seven
Of the brothers sleep in Butte grave
Although comely girl in her youth,
she never married. Il saw TOO mucn
of men in the west" she declared
Iaughingly. But there was another rea-
son-1O brothers and sisters and Wild
owed mother.
ut was cold in 1886 when we ar
rived in Butte" she said. Bitter cold.
Water pipes froze in the streets on
Broadway. The pipes were not deep
enough. Better conditions prevailed on
Granite street-but there was only one
house in the block on the Granite
side Of the aIlev back of what Is now
the KenWood block That house was
occupied by Chinese laundryman. For
8 week we were all compelled to depend
on the Chinese for our drinking water.
he was kind and obliging. He might
have made money If he had charged
for his water and services.
The Hamilton Block
T1Allf14hOlls bic o1AkC4a WIZ OWAALA
all the land between Hamilton and
Montana streets and Broadway and
Granite. His ground was in those days
outside the city limits. He was able to
dispose of his realty at good prices. He
retained for himself only the Hamil-
ton block.
Hamilton was a hard-headed uncom-
promising Irishman alSo-Who left the
greater part of his estate to the Arch
Efcfcv, of T114bIfr1 Union he npCcPH QVaV
Murray and Hamilton got into jam
over 10 inches of ground. The ground
wasn't worth penny to either but IN
the question of ownership both were
ready to go broke in defense Of their
principles.
So they hired counsel and went into
district court. The case was tried and
Hamilton won. The case was appealed
by Murray. The supreme court sent 1t
back for a rehearing. In the next trial
Murray won-and Hamilton appealed
to the supreme court-which again
sent the case back for a rehearing
Hamilton and Murray each spent q
thousand dollars for every inch Of
frontage Of that strip-but they were
standing up for their principles, one
of which was never let anybody put
anything over ON you If you can help
1.-THE city Of Butte is richer by a
street block long by reason of Pat
Hamilton's generosity Miss Brecke
said. HE gave the city the ground for
q street-because he couldn't sell it
Buffalo gulch ran through it-and be-
cause he didn't wish to pay taxes on
worthless property" Hamilton was q
pioneer Of Alder Gulch MANY times
he talked with me about Henry Plum
mer and his gang Of robbers" Miss
Brock said
She remembers when the first Ma
CURES grand opera house was built. 1T
was just q shack" she said. TT burned
down. Then a second one was built.
Jim Murray, 1t was genrally understood,
backed the venture. That theater also
burned down"
Miss Brecke recalls that the first
manager of Butte street railway, the
Bennett line of rse-drawn cars, was
a MFR. Woolston who, like herself, had
formerly lived in Albuquerque. She
also recalls the dummy" street Car
line, a steam road, to Columbia Gar
dens. There wasn't much at the Gar
denS to attract anyone in those days,
she states.
eve came to Butte from New Mex
leo by way OF Denver" she states. Den
yer wasn't much of town either in
those days. The trip to Butte from
Ogden was made over the narrow
gauge railway. The seats were so mar
row there was hardly room for one
person but two people were expected |
to sit in each Of them" This was on
July IT, 1886.
ave took truck at the depot and
rode to the Centennial hotel That no.