Century of Butte Stories

St. Patrick's Day Parades 1882 to 1986

By John Astle

(Stories celebrating the millennium, featuring articles from Butte newspapers during the past 100 years).

Butte's first St. Patrick's Day parade was in 1882, just two years after the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) organized. Fifteen members of the AOH marched through the city's streets led by the new Forest Band.

In 1885, one-hundred AOH members, led by the Alice Band, marched from their lodge rooms in Walkerville down Main street to Park, then to St. Patrick's Church where Father Cushmahan "dwelt on the virtues and fortitude possessed by St. Patrick and gave a brief history of his life." In the evening the AOH had a "grand ball" at their hall.

Parades were pretty much a regular part of St. Patrick's Day celebrations through the 1890s and into the 20th century. From about 1913 to 1920, the parades became partisan and political, and sometimes violent. A combination of World War I, the 1916 Easter Rising in Ireland, and the divisive union/socialist controversy, became causes around which the Butte Irish could promote in their parades. Emotions ran high during these years, and the Irish didn't even agree among themselves.

In 1921, the Butte St. Patrick's celebration included a visit from Miss Mary MacSwiney, sister of Terrence MacSwiney, the Lord Mayor of Cork, who had recently died in an English prison as the result of a hunger strike to protest the long-standing abuses of Ireland by the English.

Miss MacSwiney was successful in raising over $10,000 from the Butte Irish for Irish relief and for the cause of freedom in Ireland.

The last St. Patrick's Day parade in Butte, for many years to come, was March 17, 1922. Over 1,500 marched in this parade, including 500 members of the Phil Sheridan Club, the Clan-ne-Gael organization from Anaconda.

Ireland's civil war in 1922-23, not only split the people in Ireland, but also led to a serious division among the Butte Irish.

Fighting started on June 26, 1922, when the Irish Free State army, led by Michael Collins, opened fire on the Republicans who were holding the Four Courts building in Dublin.

Collins, second in command of the Free State party and commander of the army, was ambushed and killed on August 22, 1922, by the Republicans. Fighting ended in May 1923, but guerilla warfare continued for months.

In Butte, during the early morning hours of January 1, 1923, at a New Year's Eve party in the Hibernian Hall, sticks of dynamite were placed on the widow sill. Someone noticed the burning fuse and kicked the explosives into the alley. The blast broke all of the windows in the hall, but no one was injured. The persons responsible were never caught. The civil war in Ireland had traveled to Butte.

Parades were infrequent from the 1940s through the 1970s. A few small parades were held, but mostly the celebration centered around the banquets held by the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick. Also, an Irish women's group, Daughters of Erin, held banquets in the 40s and 50s. Mrs. Thomas Tutty was toastmistress at the banquet in 1940 at the Chequamegon cafe. (Women were not allowed to join the Friendly Sons)

A lone parade in the 1970s was sponsored by the Butte Uptown Association in 1973. The next parade was in 1981, and was the beginning of one of the longest continuous runs of St. Patrick's Day parades in Butte history. This year's 2000 parade will be number 20.

Chairman of the 1981 parade was Neil Lynch. It was an ominous beginning as the temperature was 32 degrees and it snowed about four inches. On top of that, organizers admitted later, the Mexican flag, which somewhat resembles the Irish flag, was carried at the head of the parade.

Plans for the 1982 parade started early. It was dedicated to Senator Jack Healy, former president of the Friendly Sons, who died on March 16. The sun was shining as more than 43 entries were led by Carolyn Larsen and her Arabian stallion, St. Patrick. Marchers included the bands and drill teams from Butte High and Whitehall, and also students from most of Butte's grade schools.

By 1983, Butte's St. Patrick's Day parade was big time.' Bus loads of "immigrants" came to Butte from Missoula, Helena, and Great Falls. An impending layoff of 650 Anaconda Company employees in June, when Arco announced they would suspend operations in Butte, did not dampen the spirits of the Irish revelers.

The celebration was measured in gallons of beer drunk (5,000), pounds of corned beef eaten (50,000), and cabbage (26,000 pounds). The crowd set a record at 15,000. Bill Kearney won the first Blarney Stone Fun Run from Galena street to Shawn O'Farrell's Station on Front street, and St. Urho made an appearance on March 16, at the Helsinki Bar, which had stocked an extra 100 cases of beer.

Motels were sold out with visitors from Portland and Salt Lake City, and local pubs increased their stock by 10 times for the 1984 parade. Senator Max Baucus suffered no ill effects from being mooned' at the Helsinki while celebrating St. Urho's Day, and Butte High School won the State AA basketball championship in Missoula St. Patrick's night.

Snowflakes gently covered the 125 official and unofficial marchers, including Tony the Trader, bagpipers from Canada, and Butte's own belly dancer, Jameellah. Over 30,000 spectators watched the parade. A double-decker bus with 110 passengers from Portland carried a sign which read, "St. Patrick's Day in Butte or Bust." Crowds got bigger each year, as over 40,000 watched the 1985 parade, which was held on Sunday. Oakie O'Connor was chosen as the first St Patrick's Day parade marshal and the Edmonton bagpipers started their traditional trip to Butte. Pat Kearney was in charge of the Blarney Stone Fun Run.

A suggestion was made to enforce the open container law during the 1985 celebration, but law enforcement officials said it would be impossible to enforce, and would probably add to the problems of keeping the crowds under control.

1985 also saw the resignation of Gary Gorsh after 12 years as president of Butte Celebrations. He was replace by William "Blondie" Patrick. Butte Celebrations was incorporated in 1956.

March 17, 1986 fell on a cool Monday, the crowd dropped to about 20,000, but the revelry was as hot as ever, and it was wall-to-wall and shoulder-to-shoulder as usual in the M&M. The spectators were as interesting to watch as the parade. The Butte High band and drill team did not march in the parade because of problems with the unruly crowd the year before. Duggan-Dolan Mortuary began sponsorship of the Blarney Stone Fun Run.

For the rest of the 1980s and through the 90s, the Butte Celebration-sponsored St. Patrick's Day parade has become one of the biggest events in Butte. The crowds, especially from out-of-town, are larger when the holiday falls on a weekend, but even in the middle of the week, all motels in town are booked. Green beer with corned beef and cabbage is the fuel that feeds the party animals throughout the day.