The Destroying Angel

Central Butte Claim Map, ca. 1885. Click to enlarge.

By Richard I. Gibson


About 1880, prominent Butte businessman (later Mayor and U.S. Senator) Lee Mantle established the Diadem Claim in the heart of Butte’s growing business district, angling from the corner of Broadway and Montana southeast to Main and Galena and a bit beyond. By 1882, Mantle was seeking to evict surface owners from the Diadem Claim—but they didn’t go quietly.

The surface business owners banded together and, finding a possible legal flaw in the Diadem, established the Destroying Angel Claim, completely encompassing the Diadem. The name was chosen deliberately, to reflect the expected “destruction” of Mantle’s eviction attempt. And the Destroying Angel partners prevailed; Mantle’s case was dismissed in 1884.

But it wasn’t over yet.

The partners fell on each other, in various disputes over who owed what to the Destroying Angel money pool. The cases dragged on for more than 10 years and ultimately went to the Montana Supreme Court, with Chief Justice William Pemberton participating in the decision to compel one of the partners to pay $200 to the others. Pemberton’s Butte home at 39 East Granite was just two blocks from the east end of the Destroying Angel Claim, while Lee Mantle’s house on North Montana was two blocks north of the west end.

A mine was ultimately developed on the Destroying Angel Claim, but never seems to have produced much (if anything) even though its location was given as 35 West Galena (rear) from 1895 to 1910.

For more of the story, and to sample some Destroying Angel Whiskey, visit Headframe Spirits at 21 South Montana beginning Wednesday, February 29, 2012. Their 1919 building stands on the western boundary of the Destroying Angel Claim.

John & Courtney McKee prepare to open Headframe Spirits Feb. 29, 2012.

The Caplice Block

Caplice Block at lower left. Click to enlarge.

By Richard I. Gibson

The Caplice Block was one of the larger buildings in Butte in 1884. It stood at the southwest corner of Park and Montana, and it included a general store on the north side (facing Park) with tenements above on the second and third floors. The rest of the building was a dance hall and performance theater, with dressing rooms adjacent to the Montana Street entrance. The tenements extended above the dance hall as well. In 1888 the store was a liquor store, likely Caplice Commercial Company or its predecessor, John Caplice & Co.

A “French roof” suggests that the building was in Second Empire style, probably with an ornate upper section similar to today’s Finlen Hotel. This is also suggested by the appearance on the Bird’s-Eye Map view seen here (big building at lower left of general view above, and at the right edge of the street-level view of West Park below).

Caplice Block at right (building faces east). Click to enlarge.

Sutton’s New Theater occupied the Caplice Block by 1900, with an entrance on Park, although a store still occupied much of the north side. In 1916, the entire building was gone, replaced by four narrow 3-story stores, all opening on Park Street. Those are gone now, too.

John Caplice and his partner Alfred McCune were Utah businessmen who became active in Butte in the early 1880s. Caplice was born in Tipperary, Ireland in 1829 and was at Bannack in 1863. He died in 1903. In addition to the huge building at Park and Montana, the partners had a general merchandise establishment on Main Street north of Daly Street in Walkerville, several other stores around southwest Montana, and were involved in the initial construction of the Montana Central Railroad in 1886. The MCRR reached Butte November 10, 1888, and became part of the Great Northern in 1889. McCune lived for the most part in Salt Lake City, where his 1900 home is considered to be one of the finest mansions in the West.

John Caplice’s story is complex, including law suits involving the Schlitz Brewing Company. I had never heard of him before, but he’ll get another post or two in the future. McCune has his own Wikipedia entry, as does his house.

Bird's-Eye Views, 1884, published by J.J. Stoner, via Library of Congress.

St. Paul's Hospital

Image from Western Resources Magazine, 1901

The short-lived St. Paul’s hospital stood at the southeast corner of Gold and Montana Streets, 502 S. Montana; the view here looks southeast. It was only listed in the city directories from 1900-1902, even though Western Resources Magazine in 1901 reported that “the sum of $500 has recently been spent in the operating room alone … For a dollar a month … one can have medical treatment, board, nursing and surgical attendance, and furthermore the choice of thirty doctors.” A dollar a month was pretty sparse revenue for any business, even in those days and even if their wards were full, so perhaps those glowing claims were what made the hospital short-lived.

Rev. J.M. Settle was President and General Manager of the place and it depended entirely on his personal credit. He lived about five blocks away, at 103 S. Idaho Street, a small 1-story home that stood on the south side of St. Paul’s Methodist Episcopal Church (Omar Bradley Church, Beverly’s Bridal). Rev. Settle reportedly oversaw building of that church but soon abandoned his post there for the hospital, also known as Johnston House. The church and the hospital were both built in 1899-1900. The hospital, however, was “entirely non-sectarian, Jew or Gentile, Christian or unbeliever, all receiving the same skilled, considerate, conscientious care.” Sisters Hospital, which became St. James, was already in operation and was much larger, so it may have forced St. Paul’s hospital out of business.

Today, the entire east side of Montana between Gold and Platinum Streets is bare ground; a small modern structure stands near the corner where St. Paul’s Hospital once stood, across from the Corner Bar.