''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 2 ...

's history as a

copper mining Copper extraction is the multi-stage process of obtaining copper from list of copper ores, its ores. The conversion of copper ores consists of a series of physical, chemical, and electrochemical processes. Methods have evolved and vary with coun ...

town. It was created by Pamela Roberts, narrated by

Gabriel Byrne Gabriel James Byrne (born 12 May 1950) is an Irish actor. He has received a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for a Grammy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Tony Awards. Byrne was awarded the Irish Film and Television Academy L ...

, 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; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) 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 pinkish-orang ...

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 Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

in the East. Labor relations and the corporate operations of

Anaconda Copper The Anaconda Company, also known historically as the Anaconda Gold and Silver Mining Company (1881–1891), Anaconda Mining Company (1891–1895), Anaconda Copper Mining Company (1895–1899), Amalgamated Copper Company (1899–1915), and Anacon ...

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, Terrenc ...

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

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 English-language documentary films {{hist-documentary-film-stub