John F Davies

The Great Dynamite Explosion at Butte, Montana John F Davies

On the night of January 15th, 1895, the great mining center of Butte, Montana was devastated by a series of explosions. As the Reno Daily Journal's headline blared: DYNAMITE EXPLOSION. Terrible Loss of Life at Butte, Montana. ABOUT 150 KILLED AND INJURED. The Fire Department Annihilated-Windows Demolished a Mile Away. The Daily Journal continued, "A fire broke out in the Butte Hardware Company's warehouse near Butte City, Montana. There was a large quantity of giant powder stored in the building and when the Fire Department was fighting the flames the powder exploded killing every fireman except two. While the dead and wounded were being removed another explosion occurred which killed more persons, including several policemen and citizens. Many persons were torn to fragments and others were shocked to death by the concussion. Later a third explosion occurred increasing the number of deaths and adding to the ruin and devastation." Almost as soon as the fires had cooled, local educator John F. Davies set pen to paper to record for history what took place, including the accounts of some of those who saw history unfold first hand. Note: This edition is a facsimile of the original edition and is not set in a modern typeface. As such, some type characters and images might suffer from slight imperfections or minor shadows in the page background.