Butte, Montana the gateway to Yellowstone Park known for majestic views of the Rocky Mountains, its school of mines,
Montana Tech of the University of Montana, its diverse culture made up of people from all corners of the world, The Montana Folk Festival,
Rockin' the Rockies, its Irish festival, An Ri Ra, Evel Knievel Days - always the last weekend of July - attracting stunt
artists and audiences alike from all over the world honoring its native son - a one of a kind daredevil Evel Knievel. Butte, like Evel
is a one of a kind place known for its friendly people, even strangers greeting strangers on the street with the familiar greeting
"How's she goin'?" Butte, MT with Mountains that go over a mile high and "The Richest Hill On Earth" - the Berkeley Pit over a mile
deep into the earths crust. A place where The Copper Kings made their fortune mining the Copper ore from that pit and started the
Anaconda Company that flourished as the economic backbone of the city and its people. The Anaconda Company took over a beautiful recreation
spot from Copper King W.A. Clark that attracted not only natives but folks from all over the world who visited the Columbia Gardens which featured among other attractions its famous Carousel - a merry go round with beautiful horses for kids of all ages to enjoy. The beautiful Columbia Gardens was shut down in 1973 so the Anaconda Company could continue mining operations. Its gone but not in the hearts of Butte citizens.
A group of citizens dedicated to the memory of the Columbia Gardens known as the Spirit of the Columbia Gardens A Carousel Foundation
for the past 16 years has been working hard to keep that memory alive by recreating the Carousel. They have hand carved beautiful
horses and reproduced replicas from the famous merry go round of the Columbia Gardens. The horses need a place to call home. With
the generous help of good people like you, you can help keep the memory of the Columbia Gardens alive by not only giving the horses
a home but your purchase of the CD - Spirit of the Columbia Gardens - a Carousel the official song of the Spirit of the Columbia Gardens
A Carousel Foundation written and performed by Butte residents will go towards recreating the Columbia Gardens as a place not owned
by the "company" but by you the people to call your own, to once enjoy the recreation area your parents and grandparents and great
grand parents flocked to in the Butte summers of the past. It will be yours to have in the future - a gift not only to the foundation but for future
generations of Butte people so that once again Butte can be known also as the place that HAS the Columbia Gardens,
not the place that USED to have it. The CD is just $10 and will serve as a memento commemorating the past and what we hope to be the
present and future of YOUR Columbia Gardens. Come into the gift shop and work shop to learn more and see and talk to the dedicated
volunteers behind this project and the wonderful craft work they have done both at the shop and the showroom where 32 of the 36 horses
are completed - 3 of them replicas of what remained from the original Columbia Gardens. The rest are all original and all made possible
by the generous donations of area merchants who sponsored all the horses. Now you can take it to the last step needed to see this
dream come true, because it was all done for you! The Spirit of the Columbia Gardens Foundation is located in the Butte Plaza Mall.
On this web site you can hear a clip from the song and see the Foundations web page. The gift shop has the entire
CD package.
Please browse our website and see the horses and much more info on this project and
the people behind it. Start by clicking
the picture link below back to the menu at the top of this page. Enjoy!
