William Andrews Clark Sr. (January 8, 1839March 2, 1925) was an American politician and entrepreneur, involved with

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

banking A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

, and

railroads Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

Biography

Clark was born in

Connellsville Connellsville is a city in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States, southeast of Pittsburgh and away via the Youghiogheny River, a tributary of the Monongahela River. It is part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. The population was 7,637 at th ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. He moved with his family to

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

in 1856 where he taught school and studied law at

Iowa Wesleyan College Iowa Wesleyan University is a private university in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. It is Iowa's first co-educational institution of higher learning and the oldest of its type west of the Mississippi River. The institution is affiliated with the United Met ...

. In 1862, he traveled west to become a miner. After working in quartz mines in Colorado, during 1863 Clark made his way to new gold fields to find his fortune in the

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...

. He settled in the capital of

Montana Territory The Territory of Montana was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 26, 1864, until November 8, 1889, when it was admitted as the 41st state in the Union as the state of Montana. Original boundaries T ...

Bannack, Montana Bannack is a ghost town in Beaverhead County, Montana, United States, located on Grasshopper Creek, approximately upstream from where Grasshopper Creek joins with the Beaverhead River south of Dillon. Founded in 1862, the town is a National Hist ...

, and began

placer mining Placer mining () is the mining of stream bed (Alluvium, alluvial) deposits for minerals. This may be done by open-pit mining, open-pit (also called open-cast mining) or by various surface excavating equipment or tunneling equipment. Placer minin ...

. Though his claim paid only moderately, Clark invested his earnings in becoming a trader, driving mules back and forth between

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

and the

boomtown A boomtown is a community that undergoes sudden and rapid population and economic growth, or that is started from scratch. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although ...

s of Montana to transport eggs and other basic supplies. He soon changed careers again and became a banker in

Deer Lodge, Montana Deer Lodge is a city in and the county seat of Powell County, Montana, Powell County, Montana, United States. The population was 2,938 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Description The city is perhaps best known as the home of t ...

. He repossessed mining properties when owners defaulted on their loans, placing him in the mining industry. He made a fortune with copper mining, small

smelter Smelting is a process of applying heat to ore, to extract a base metal. It is a form of extractive metallurgy. It is used to extract many metals from their ores, including Silver mining#Ore processing, silver, iron-making, iron, copper extracti ...

s, electric power companies, newspapers, railroads (trolley lines around Butte and the

San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad The Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad was a rail company in California, Nevada, and Utah in the United States, that completed and operated a railway line between its namesake cities (Salt Lake City, Utah and Los Angeles, California), via Las Ve ...

from

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

to San Pedro and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

), and other businesses, becoming known as one of three "

Copper Kings The Copper Kings were the three industrialists Marcus Daly, William A. Clark, and F. Augustus Heinze. They were known for the epic battles fought in Butte, Montana, and the surrounding region, during the Gilded Age, over control of the local copper ...

" of

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 ...

, along with

Marcus Daly Marcus Daly (December 5, 1841 – November 12, 1900) was an Irish-born American businessman known as one of the three " Copper Kings" of Butte, Montana, United States. Early life Daly emigrated from County Cavan, Ireland, to the United States ...

and F. Augustus Heinze. Between 1884 and 1888, Clark constructed a 34-room, Tiffany-decorated home on West Granite Street, incorporating the most modern inventions available, in

. This home is now the

Copper King Mansion The Copper King Mansion, also known as the W. A. Clark Mansion, is a 34-room residence of Romanesque Revival Victorian architecture that was built from 1884 to 1888 as the Butte, Montana, residence of William Andrews Clark, one of Montana's thre ...

bed-and-breakfast, as well as a museum. In 1899, Clark built Columbia Gardens for the children of Butte. It included flower gardens, a dance pavilion, amusement park, lake, and picnic areas. An evening scene between characters Arline Simms (played by

Anne Francis Anne Francis (also known as Anne Lloyd Francis; September 16, 1930 – January 2, 2011) was an American actress known for her ground-breaking roles in the science-fiction film ''Forbidden Planet'' (1956) and the television action-drama seri ...

) and

Buz Murdock Buz Murdock was a fictional character portrayed by actor George Maharis on the 1960s American prime-time dramatic television series '' Route 66''. Buz was one of three main regular characters on the program, and his tenure lasted for two and a half ...

(played by

George Maharis George Maharis (born September 1, 1928) is an American actor who portrayed Buz Murdock in the first three seasons of the TV series ''Route 66''. Maharis also recorded numerous pop music albums at the height of his fame, and later starred in t ...

) from the ''

Route 66 U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) was one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The h ...

'' television series 1961 episode "A Month of Sundays" was shot on location at Columbia Gardens where she emotionally falls into his arms on the grand staircase. Clark later built a much larger and more extravagant 121-room mansion on

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It stretches north from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village to West 143rd Street in Harlem. It is one of the most expensive shopping stre ...

in New York City, the William A. Clark House. He died on March 2, 1925, and is interred in Woodlawn Cemetery in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, New York City.

Political career

Clark served as president of both

state constitutional conventions in 1884 and 1889. Clark yearned to be a statesman and used his newspaper, the ''Butte Miner'', to push his political ambitions. At this time, Butte was one of the largest cities in the West. He became a hero in

Helena, Montana Helena (; ) is the capital city of Montana, United States, and the county seat of Lewis and Clark County. Helena was founded as a gold camp during the Montana gold rush, and established on October 30, 1864. Due to the gold rush, Helena would ...

, by campaigning for its selection as the

state capital Below is an index of pages containing lists of capital cities. National capitals *List of national capitals * List of national capitals by latitude *List of national capitals by population * List of national capitals by area * List of capital c ...

instead of

Anaconda Anacondas or water boas are a group of large snakes of the genus '' Eunectes''. They are found in tropical South America. Four species are currently recognized. Description Although the name applies to a group of snakes, it is often used ...

. This battle for the placement of the capital had subtle Irish vs. English, Catholic vs. Protestant, and non-Masonic vs. Masonic elements. Clark's long-standing dream of becoming a

United States Senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

resulted in scandal in 1899 when it was revealed that he bribed members of the

Montana State Legislature The Montana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Montana. It is composed of the 100-member Montana House of Representatives and the 50-member Montana Senate. The Montana Constitution dictates that the legislature meet ...

in return for their votes. At the time, U.S. Senators were chosen by their respective state legislatures. The corruption of his election contributed to the passage of the 17th Amendment. The U.S. Senate refused to seat Clark because of the 1899 bribery scheme, but a later senate campaign was successful, and he served a single term from 1901 until 1907. In responding to criticism of his bribery of the Montana legislature, Clark is reported to have said, "I never bought a man who wasn't for sale." Clark died at the age of 86 in his New York City mansion. His estate at his death was estimated to be worth $300 million, (equivalent to $ in today's dollars), making him one of the wealthiest Americans ever. In a 1907 essay,

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

, who was a close friend of Clark's rival,

Henry H. Rogers Henry Huttleston Rogers (January 29, 1840 – May 19, 1909) was an American industrialist and financier. He made his fortune in the oil refining business, becoming a leader at Standard Oil. He also played a major role in numerous corporations a ...

, an organizer of the Amalgamated Copper Mining Company, portrayed Clark as the very embodiment of

Gilded Age In United States history, the Gilded Age was an era extending roughly from 1877 to 1900, which was sandwiched between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was a time of rapid economic growth, especially in the Northern and Weste ...

excess and corruption:

Family

Clark was married twice. His first marriage was to Katherine Louise "Kate" Stauffer in 1869 until her death in 1893. Together, they had seven children: * Mary Joaquina Clark (1870 – 1939), m. Everett Mallory Culver, Charles Potter Kling, and Marius de Brabant * Charles Walker Clark (1871 – 1933), m. Katherine Quinn Roberts and Cecelia "Celia" Tobin * Unnamed son (1874–1874) * Jessie Clark (1875–1878) * Katherine Louise Clark (1875-1974)), m. Dr. Lewis Rutherford Morris (1862-1936) (great-great-grandson of

Lewis Morris Lewis Morris (April 8, 1726 – January 22, 1798) was an American Founding Father, landowner, and developer from Morrisania, New York, presently part of Bronx County. He signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence as a delegate to the Continen ...

) * William Andrews Clark Jr. (1877–1934), m. Mabel Foster and Alice McManus * Paul Francis Clark (1880–1896) After Kate's death in 1893, William married his second wife, the woman who had been his teenage ward, Anna Eugenia La Chapelle (March 10, 1878, Michigan – October 11, 1963, New York). They claimed to have been married in 1901 in France. Anna was 23 and William was 62. They had two children: * Louise Amelia Andrée Clark (August 13, 1902,

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

– August 6, 1919,

Rangeley, Maine Rangeley is a town in Franklin County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,222 at the 2020 census. Rangeley is the center of the Rangeley Lakes Region, a resort area. The town includes the villages of Rangeley and Oquossoc, as well a ...

) * Huguette Marcelle Clark (June 9, 1906,

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

– May 24, 2011, New York City) In early 1946, Anna commissioned the

Paganini Quartet The Paganini Quartet was an American string quartet founded by cellist Robert Maas and violinist Henri Temianka in 1946. The quartet drew its name from the fact that all four of its instruments, made by Antonio Stradivari (1644–1737), had o ...

, and acquired the four famous Stradivarius instruments once owned by Niccolo Paganini for their use. Clark donated 135 acres to the Girl Scouts in honor of his elder daughter (by his second wife), Louise Amelia Andrée (who died a week before her 17th birthday of

meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, headache, and neck stiffness. Other symptoms include confusion or ...

), who had been very happy there. The Girl Scout camp in

Briarcliff Manor Briarcliff Manor () is a suburban village in Westchester County, New York, north of New York City. It is on of land on the east bank of the Hudson River, geographically shared by the towns of Mount Pleasant and Ossining. Briarcliff Manor inc ...

was named Camp Andree Clark.

William Andrews Clark Jr.

Clark's son, William Andrews Clark Jr., founder of the

Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic, commonly referred to as the LA Phil, is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at th ...

in 1919, left his library of rare books and manuscripts to the regents of the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. Today, the

William Andrews Clark Memorial Library The William Andrews Clark Memorial Library (Clark Library), an affiliated library of the University of California, Los Angeles, holds rare books and manuscripts with particular strengths in English literature and history (1641–1800), Oscar ...

specializes in English literature and history from 1641 to 1800, materials related to

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

and his associates, and fine

printing Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ea ...

Huguette Marcelle Clark

Huguette (pronounced ), born in

in June 1906, was the youngest child of Clark with his second wife, Anna Eugenia La Chapelle. She married once but divorced less than a year later. She led a

reclusive A recluse is a person who lives in voluntary seclusion from the public and society. The word is from the Latin ''recludere'', which means "shut up" or "sequester". Historically, the word referred to a Christian hermit's total isolation from th ...

life thereafter, seldom communicating with the public nor with her extended family. For many years, she lived in three combined apartments, with a total of 42 rooms, on New York's Fifth Avenue at 72nd Street, overlooking

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

. In 1991, she moved out and for the remainder of her life lived in various New York City hospitals. In February 2010, she became the subject of a series of reports on

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...

after it was reported that the caretakers of her three residences (including a $24 million estate in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

, a sprawling seaside estate in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coas ...

and her Fifth Avenue apartments valued at $100 million) had not seen her in decades. These articles were the basis for the 2013 bestselling book ''Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune.'' by investigative reporter

Bill Dedman Bill Dedman (born 1960) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist, an investigative reporter for ''Newsday'', and co-author of the biography of reclusive heiress Huguette Clark, '' Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and ...

. Her final residence was

Beth Israel Medical Center Mount Sinai Beth Israel is a 799-bed teaching hospital in Manhattan. It is part of the Mount Sinai Health System, a nonprofit health system formed in September 2013 by the merger of Continuum Health Partners and Mount Sinai Medical Center, an ...

, where she died on the morning of May 24, 2011, age 104. Huguette's extraordinary collection of arts and antiquities were consigned to go on the auction block at Christie's in June 2014, over three years after her death.

Walter Clark

Clark's nephew, Walter Miller Clark, son of James Ross and Miriam Augusta (Evans) Clark, along with Walter's wife, Virginia (McDowell) Clark, were passengers on the RMS ''Titanic''. He was among the 1,514 who died on April 15, 1912, after the ship struck an iceberg at 2:20 a.m. She survived and arrived in New York City a widow. Some of Mr. Clark's personal items were retrieved in the debris field during an expedition to the site of the sinking in 1994. They were identified by engraved initials. They included shaving soap, toiletry items, cuff links, and gambling chips. Walter's wife, Virginia, was rescued by the RMS ''Carpathia''.

Legacy

Clark's art collection was donated to the

Corcoran Gallery The Corcoran Gallery of Art was an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University. Overview The Corcoran School of the Arts & Desi ...

in Washington, D.C. after his death, greatly enriching that museum's holdings of European as well as American art. The Clark donation also included the construction of a new wing for the Corcoran, known appropriately as the Clark Wing. The city of

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

was established as a maintenance stop for Clark's

. He subdivided into 1200 lots, some of which on the corner of Fremont Street in Las Vegas sold for as much as $1750. The Las Vegas area was organized as

Clark County, Nevada Clark County is located in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,265,461. Most of the county population resides in the Las Vegas Census County Divisions, which hold 1,771,945 people as of the 2010 Census, across ...

, in Clark's honor. Clark's involvement in the founding of Las Vegas is recounted in a decidedly negative light by

Chris Romano Chris Romano also known as "Romanski" (born March 28, 1978) is an American actor, writer, producer, and director, most commonly known for co-creating, producing and starring in Spike TV's '' Blue Mountain State''. Early life Romano grew up in ...

in the "Las Vegas" episode of

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...

Drunk History ''Drunk History'' is an American educational comedy television series produced by Comedy Central, based on the Funny or Die web series created by Derek Waters and Jeremy Konner in 2007. They and Will Ferrell and Adam McKay are the show's exec ...

, with

Rich Fulcher Richard Fulcher (born November 18, 1968) is an American comedian, actor and author. He played Bob Fossil and other characters in the British comedy series ''The Mighty Boosh'', and Edward Sheath in the American series '' Jon Benjamin Has a Van'' ...

portraying Clark.

Clarkdale, Arizona

Clarkdale, Arizona Clarkdale (Yavapai: Saupkasuiva) is a town in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. The Verde River flows through the town as does Bitter Creek, an intermittent tributary of the river. According to the 2010 census, the population of the town w ...

, named for Clark, was the site of smelting operations for Clark's mines in nearby

Jerome, Arizona Jerome is a town in the Black Hills of Yavapai County in the U.S. state of Arizona. Founded in the late 19th century on Cleopatra Hill overlooking the Verde Valley, Jerome is located more than above sea level. It is about north of Phoenix alo ...

. The town includes the historic Clark Mansion, which sustained severe fire damage on June 25, 2010. Clarkdale is home to the Verde Canyon Railroad wilderness train ride which follows the historic route that Clark had constructed in 1911 and home to the Copper Art Museum.

Notes

Sources

*
NBCNews.com: Huguette Clark, the reclusive heiress, and the men managing her money, an NBCNews.com special report
* *

External links

NBCNews.com: Huguette Clark, the reclusive heiress, and the men managing her money, an NBCNews.com special report

''Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune''

Biographical Sketch
* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, William Andrews 1839 births 1925 deaths American bankers American philanthropists Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York) American businesspeople in metals Democratic Party United States senators from Montana History of Clark County, Nevada Clark, William A. Iowa Wesleyan University alumni Montana Democrats Montana pioneers People from Connellsville, Pennsylvania People from Deer Lodge, Montana Use mdy dates from August 2011 William A.