Daly Days is a celebration of Marcus Daly who was an Irish immigrant and one of the Butte “Copper Kings.” He founded the town of Hamilton and helped to create agriculture and commerce in the Bitterroot Valley.
In 1886, the mining magnate purchased the Anthony Chaffin homestead and had it remodeled by the time Montana became a state in 1889. In 1897, the mansion was remodeled to a Queen Anne-style Victorian home. Daly’s wife Margaret had the building remodeled in 1910 by Missoula architect A. J. Gibson into the Georgian-Revival-style home it is now.
The home has three stories — 24,000 square feet — with over 50 rooms, 25 bedrooms, 15 bathrooms and seven fireplaces. The main rooms include a large living room, music room, formal dining room, sunroom, a trophy room, an upstairs sitting room and a third-floor billiard hall.
The mansion was Daly’s summer home. He started the Stock Farm in 1889, bred racehorses and raised cattle. Daly developed much of the irrigation system still in use today, and helped ensure railroad access through the valley. The lumber mills in the valley provided timber for the mines in Butte.
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Daly died in 1900. His wife, Margaret Daly died in 1941 and the mansion sat abandoned for 45 years. The historic Hamilton home reopened for tours in 1987 and has been painstakingly restored over the years.
Gould said that plans for the Daly Days celebration include handmade ice cream and bread samples in the kitchen of the historic home.
“Ruby always dresses as the cook,” Gould said. “She loves to cook. Ruby and Russ Koppes are long-time volunteers at the mansion. Russ will be outside on a horse, he is a real active cowboy.”
On July 27, tours are regular prices, but the mansion grounds are open to the public. The Daly Mansion volunteers will be selling pretzels and lemonade on the north porch from 1 to 7 p.m.
The sale is a tie into the Bitterroot Valley Chamber of Commerce’s Brewfest, which happens on the north mansion grounds from 3 to 8 p.m.
“I know they will have food vendors and lots of beer,” Gould said. “The Brewfest is a good community gathering that moved here for the shade and space.”
Enjoy the cool shade of the mansion grounds, take a tour and learn the history of Marcus Daly the man we celebrate with Daly Days.
“There will also be a list of questions, like a scavenger hunt, where patrons have to interact with the reenactors to get the answers.”
