The Lady of the Rockies

Near the top of the East Ridge of the Continental Divide overlooking Butte stands a stark white statue of the Virgin Mary. Placed on the mountain in 1985, the 90-foot monument is more than just a religious icon. It symbolizes the fortitude and perseverance of the people in the town below.

Indeed, at the time of the statue’s erection Butte needed a boost. In 1983 The Atlantic Richfield Company curtailed mining in the huge Berkeley pit. For the first time in more than a century, copper was not being mined in Butte.

The Lady of the Rockies statue was the brainchild of longtime Anaconda company worker
Bob O’ Bill. He vowed that if his wife recovered from a serious illness, he would place statue of the Madonna on the high ridge east of Butte. O’Bill and the small group of dedicated workers and financial backers never wavered from their goal.

Welder Leroy Lee, who constructed the statue, had no experience as a sculptor. He worked without blueprints, using only a small model as a guide. Fittingly, structural metal for the project came from Butte’s old underground copper mines.

To hoist the six sections of statue onto the mountain, backers secured the use of a National Guard helicopter. The December 1985 airlift tested both the strengths of the helicopter and the metal of its crew members. Tragedy nearly hit when the arms sections began swinging out of control. The helicopter shot down the ridge to make an emergency landing. When the final section eased into place, people below began celebrating. They held a victory parade downtown in freezing weather.

By the time of the statue’s completion, spirits and Butte were uplifted for other reasons as well. The town was beginning to diversify its economy. A small- business incubator was established. Montana businessman Dennis Washington reopened some of the old ARCO mines. Plans were well underway to construct the nation’s first high- altitude sports training facility, complete with a speed- skating rink. As one worker declared, “this statue symbolizes that the people here can accomplish anything if they really want to.”

Reprinted with permission of Mountain Press Publishing. This essay appears in an outstanding book, Roadside History of Montana, must reading for all who love Montana!