socialist countries with all these crazy socialist ideas. anthony: would you say montana in a stereotypical way is fairly, relatively socially conservative? amanda: oh, absolutely but butte is labor town. bryant: nobody knows anything about union history. you know, they don t teach it. when the country was at its peak, unions were at their peak. wages were at their peak; unions were at their peak. anthony: that was then, this is now. this is the era of i ve got mine jack. amanda: that s what makes butte different. it s not i ve got mine. anthony: it isn t? amanda: it s, it s truly not. anthony: why? amanda: union is together. we ve grown this community out of taking care of each other. anthony: you have to remember what it was like here for workers before unions if you can imagine. men worked underground for as little as three dollars a day, ten to twelve hour shifts six days a week. thousands died over the years in industrial accidents either underground or from
did. part of that is luck geographically but also the character of the people here. you know, they endured. anthony: as you might have gathered by now, this is a working class town. and unusual in that it s a union town. a proudly union town in an otherwise very red state. bryant: butte is the most interesting, important town in america that nobody knows about. anthony: bryant mcgregor is the owner of the silver dollar saloon in what was once butte s chinatown. amanda: so we call ourselves butte, america. anthony: amanda curtis is a former state congresswoman, was born of the labor movement. she s a unionist, an advocate for workers and this solidly union city she calls home. amanda: when you got off the boat in ellis island it said butte pinned to your shirt. and it wasn t butte, montana, right? it was butte, america. we were founded by european immigrants who came from
obviously the pit is an enduring emblem of that rapacious capitalist greed. but you also have people here who are proud of proud of where they live. the history of butte in many ways is you know this town that should have died and but never did. part of that is luck geographically but also the character of the people here. you know, they endured. anthony: as you might have gathered by now, this is a working class town. and unusual in that it s a union town. a proudly union town in an otherwise very red state. bryant: butte is the most interesting, important town in america that nobody knows about. anthony: bryant mcgregor is the owner of the silver dollar saloon in what was once butte s chinatown. amanda: so we call ourselves butte, america. anthony: amanda curtis is a former state congresswoman, was born of the labor movement.
she s a unionist, an advocate for workers and this solidly union city she calls home. amanda: when you got off the boat in ellis island it said butte pinned to your shirt. and it wasn t butte, montana, right? it was butte, america. we were founded by european immigrants who came from socialist countries with all these crazy socialist ideas. anthony: would you say montana in a stereotypical way is fairly, relatively socially conservative? amanda: oh, absolutely but butte is labor town. bryant: nobody knows anything about union history. you know, they don t teach it. when the country was at its peak, unions were at their peak. wages were at their peak; unions were at their peak. anthony: that was then, this is now. this is the era of i ve got mine jack. amanda: that s what makes butte different. it s not i ve got mine. anthony: it isn t? amanda: it s, it s truly not. anthony: why? amanda: union is together. we ve grown this community out of taking care of each other
union city she calls home. amanda: when you got off the boat in ellis island it said butte pinned to your shirt. and it wasn t butte, montana, right? it was butte, america. we were founded by european immigrants who came from socialist countries with all these crazy socialist ideas. anthony: would you say montana in a stereotypical way is fairly, relatively socially conservative? amanda: oh, absolutely but butte is a labor town. bryant: nobody knows anything about union history. you know, they don t teach it. when the country was at its peak, unions were at their peak. when wages were at their peak, unions were at their peak. anthony: that was then, this is now. this is the era of i ve got mine jack. amanda: that s what makes butte different. it s not i ve got mine. anthony: it isn t? amanda: it s, it s truly not. anthony: why? amanda: union is together. we ve grown this community out of taking care of each other. anthony: you have to remember what it was like