Distinctly Montana Magazine

62 D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G 2 0 2 4 As Rogers took control of Montana's copper, he inherited the banner of the Clark-Daly feud, fanning its smoldering embers into the new century. When Clark flung accusations of corrup- tion at Rogers, the pot was accusing the kettle. When Twain declared, "He is said to have bought legislatures..." Clark was guilty as charged. Clark loved money. He came west and mastered the art of "mining the miners" by selling goods at premium prices. He then turned to banking and invested in Butte's mines. As histo- rian Joseph Kinsey Howard explained, "Never a dollar got away from him that didn't come back stuck to another." Clark's drive for profit made enemies, especially Marcus Daly. Their mutual dislike probably began when Daly arrived in Butte in 1876 as an agent for the Walker Brothers of Utah. When he purchased a silver mine called the Alice, it turned out the sell- er owned two-thirds of the mine and Clark controlled the rest. Daly paid $3,000 for the majority share, but Clark got $3,500 for his one-third. This was classic Clark, and Daly may have decided then and there that Clark was, as Twain later said, "as rotten a human being as can be found anywhere." As Clark's fortune grew, so did his ego. Territorial Governor Samuel T. Hauser once wrote that Clark valued one thing even more than money: "the flattery and admiration of his fellow man." Twain concurred in 1907, commenting, "with forty years' experience of human assfulness and vanity at banquets, I have never seen anything of the sort that could remotely approach... [Clark's] glorification of himself." The Clark-Daly feud went public in 1888 when Clark was the Democratic nominee for Territorial Delegate to the U.S. Congress. Convinced he would win, Clark was shocked to lose to Thomas Carter, the little-known Republican. Behind the scenes, Daly, also a Democrat, had switched his support from Clark to Carter, claim- ing Montana needed a Republican face in Washington. Clark took it as a personal betrayal, especially after Daly's forces also thwarted Clark's senatorial ambitions in 1889 and 1893. In 1894, Clark pounced. In an election to select the permanent capital of Montana, Daly put his town of Anaconda up against Helena, backed by Clark. The pair collectively dumped three million dollars into the fight—$105 million today. With just 52,000 electors, this averaged out to $56 per vote—$1,900 in modern funds. Clark won that round. 406-388-8387 | hardawayvet.com 5650 Jackrabbit Lane, Belgrade MT 59714 NOMINATE US WIN $1000 FOR YOUR CHANCE TO of B E S T M O N TA N A A S V O T E D B Y R E A D E R S O F 2023 W I N N E R ! 406.377.5788 • Sug arP lumF ineJe we lr y.c om 103 Nor t h Doug la s St r eet • Glendi ve, Mont ana L oc ated in t he His tor ic Kr ug Mansion We offer the largest collection of Yogo Sapphires in the state of Montana. NOMINATE US WIN $1000 FOR YOUR CHANCE TO of B E S T M O N TA N A A S V O T E D B Y R E A D E R S O F 2024 August 2 - 4, 2024 $30 EARLYBIRD PRICING UNTIL JULY 1 • KIDS 12 & UNDER FREE Flower Show • Walkerville, Montana 1878, showing the Alice Silver Mine run by Marcus Daly and W.A. Clark's Moulton BUTTE-SILVER BOW PUBLIC ARCHIVES

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