What if the skies over Butte Montana better reflected its stained and 
tainted past? Butte began as a mining town in the late 19th century. The
 influx of miners gave Butte a reputation as a wide-open town where any 
vice was obtainable. The red-light district brought miners and other men
 from all over the 
region and was open until 1982 as one of the last such urban districts 
in the U.S.  Today, arsenic and heavy metals such as lead
 are found in high concentrations in some spots affected by old mining, 
and for a period of time in the 1990s the tap water was unsafe to drink. Don't get me wrong, I love Butte. I could photograph there for the rest of my life an still only scratch the surface. Its a beautiful place with a rich history but sometimes the dark parts of history need to be mentioned and questioned in order to learn from them. 





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