The toxic Berkeley Pit is seen from the Visitor Information and Viewing Stand on July 6, 2017 in Butte, Montana. Formerly an open pit copper mine, today the Berkeley Pit is part of the largest Superfund site in the United States. In its heyday, in the 1880s, the Butte area was known as the “Richest Hill on Earth” due to the bonanza in copper and other metals. (Photo by Janie Osborne/Getty Images)
In his recent inaugural speech, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte spoke about how we have what the rest of the nation wants, saying: “The American dream lives in Montana and it’s here where we are proving what is possible when the government gets out of the way and empowers the people.”
If anything, his words reflect a relative newcomer’s poor understanding of Montana history — and what can happen when you “get government out of the way.” But long-time Montanans remember. We lived through and still suffer from the era when government was indeed “out of the way” and the rapacious appetites of the railroad, cattle, timber and mining barons ran rampant, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake…