''Butte, America'' is a 2008 documentary film about

Butte, Montana Butte ( ) is a consolidated city-county and the county seat of Silver Bow County, Montana, United States. In 1977, the city and county governments consolidated to form the sole entity of Butte-Silver Bow. The city covers , and, according to the ...

's history as a

copper mining Copper extraction refers to the methods used to obtain copper from its ores. The conversion of copper consists of a series of physical and electrochemical processes. Methods have evolved and vary with country depending on the ore source, loca ...

town. It was created by Pamela Roberts, narrated by

Gabriel Byrne Gabriel James Byrne (born 12 May 1950) is an Irish actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, audiobook narrator, and author. His acting career began in the Focus Theatre before he joined London's Royal Court Theatre in 1979. Byrne's s ...

, and includes a mix of first hand accounts and scholarly analysis from John T. Shea, Marie Cassidy, David Emmons, and Janet Finn.Cynthia Fuch
Independent Lens: Butte, America
October 20, 2009 Pop Matters The movie focuses on developments in American labor and production during the dawn of the electrical age in the 1880s when

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

was discovered in Butte. The mining activity brought an influx of immigrant workers and their families to the boom town that grew to be a Western metropolis of 45,000 people forming a Rocky Mountain city that with similarities to

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

in the East. Labor relations and the corporate operations of

Anaconda Copper The Anaconda Copper Mining Company, known as the Amalgamated Copper Company between 1899 to 1915, was an American mining company headquartered in Butte, Montana. It was one of the largest trusts of the early 20th century and one of the largest min ...

are also related. The film aired on the ''

Independent Lens ''Independent Lens'' is a weekly television series airing on PBS featuring documentary films made by independent filmmakers. Past seasons of ''Independent Lens'' were hosted by Angela Bassett, Don Cheadle, Susan Sarandon, Edie Falco, Terrence Ho ...

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

show on October 20, 2009.Doug Knoo
'Butte, America' documentary on PBS' 'Independent Lens' is a Tuesday TV pick
October 20, 2009 Seattle Times

References

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2008 films American documentary films Butte, Montana 2008 documentary films Documentary films about mining History of mining Films set in Montana Documentary films about United States history Mining in Montana Documentary films about Montana Anaconda Copper 2000s English-language films 2000s American films {{hist-documentary-film-stub