Glendale, Montana and the Hecla Consolidated Mining Company smelter
Glendale, M.T. Rocky Mountain Art Gallery, (c.1879). CDV. Carte de visite. Albumen [9 cm x 6 cm] photograph on the original gilt and brown mount [10.5 x 6.5 cm] Brown and Rocky Mountain backstamp. Gentle rubbing to extremities of mount. Nice contrasts. Item #7280
Glendale was the home of the Hecla Consolidated Mining Company, dating back to 1872. In early records and newspapers, you will find reference to the 'Hecla Mining District,' the 'Trapper District,' and the 'Bryant Mining District,' all of which are one in the same. This district held four towns on the side of Lion Mountain: Trapper City, Lion City, Glendale and Hecla. Glendale was considered the most civilized of the four and boasted the Montana Brewery and a general merchandise store. The discoveries of the Hecla District would become one of the leading silver producing mines of the west.
In 1875, a 40-ton smelter was built, producing nearly one million ounces of silver and thousands of tons of lead and copper annually. Unfortunately, the district was hit hard when the Sherman Silver Purchase Act was repealed in 1893. Though mining continued, it was on a much smaller scale, and in 1900 the Glendale Smelter was torn down. By 1915, all mining operations in the district had ceased.
Today all that remains of Glendale is the smelter stack and a few dilapidated buildings. The old beehive charcoal kilns are located just five miles beyond Glendale along the Canyon Creek Road.
Henry William Brown (1851-1935) began his photographic career in Glendale, Montana, in the late 1870s, taking city, mining and portrait photographs. Brown later homesteaded near Drayton Harbor, in Blaine, Washington and then moved to Custer, Washington, in 1903.
Price: $1,250.00