Distinctly Montana Magazine

17 w w w. d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m I N THE LATE 1800S, BUTTE, MONTANA, WAS A CITY OF SOARING LEGENDS: UNLIMITED OPPORTUNITY, DAZ- ZLING WEALTH, WONDROUS ENGINEERING, AND THE LATEST TECHNOLOGICAL MARVELS. An economy of rugged luxury and permissive hedonism formed in the town like an ex- uberant fungus, much of it literally taking place underground. It might well have been called the sin city of its day, and was the quintessential boomtown. Between 1870 and 1880, the population increased by 1,300%. For the next two decades, the population would triple every year. At one time, it was the largest city west of the Mississippi River between Chicago and San Francisco. Eventually, Butte would rival New York City's population, and Broadway shows would rotate out to Butte, which boasted seven full stages, some with capacity for up to an unheard of 2,000 peo- ple. This is where Butte's current Broadway Street got its name. Butte's Red Light District was another marvel, and would grow to have up to 2,500 women working around the clock in eight- hour shifts. Their shifts mirrored the miners' shifts so they could keep their regular customers. It was a rough-and-tumble place where the people had arrived before the law. Your name was everything, and if you consistent- ly crossed people, it was likely that the "bears" would eventually get you, and some leftover morsel of your body might be stum- bled upon in the woods. Double-crossing, lying, and cheating were likely to lead one to an unfortunate encounter with Butte's notorious "bears." It's difficult to imagine trying to control that kind of unbridled growth, especially when visiting politicians and dignitaries, after settling into their plush ho- tels, might be offered a discreetly guided trip through the city's many underground tunnels (away from the public eye) to one of the thriving brothels. On the way, their enterprising Chi- nese guide would fortuitously lead them past a cozy subterranean opium den. A happy coinci- dence! There, they may have settled down into the dimly lit den, with the sweet, pungent opium smoke tickling their fancy as they enjoyed a pipe on their way to (and perhaps from) the brothel. One could be forgiven for thinking that a city so drenched in decadence wouldn't have hosted one of North America's earliest saints. Yet in the midst of this he- donism and chaos, an Orthodox Christian priest named Sebastian Dabovich played a significant role in Butte, and the fruits of his labors have endured for generations, echoing through the ages in Butte, across Montana and around the world. Let's extend our reach into Montana history and meet the man who brought the most ancient form of Chris- tianity to a bucking, scrapping young American boomtown in wild, turn-of- the-century Montana. Saint Sebastian was born Jovan Dabovic in San Francisco on June 21, 1863, to the first recorded Ser- bian immigrants to the West Coast of America. They had arrived in San Francisco in 1853 after a long and challenging voyage that included crossing the isthmus of Panama on donkeys. Europe was in turmoil, and the promise of the new world was at- tracting European immigrants by the boatload. Jovan's parents owned a shop in San Francisco where Jovan and by CHRISTOPHER MUHLENFELD (top) Inside the original Holy Trinity Serbian Christan Orthodox Church in Uptown Butte, 1957 Photo courtesy Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives, OC064 The original Holy Trinity Serbian Christan Ortho- dox Church in Uptown Butte, 1935 Photo courtesy Butte- Silver Bow Public Archives, PH418.02.07

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