Marcus Daly found copper in Butte in 1882 and built the Anaconda smelter 26 miles west to process the ore. By the early 20th century, Anaconda processed more copper than anywhere else in the world. The ore came by rail from Butte; the refined copper went out to wire America's electrification. But smelting produced vast quantities of toxic smoke - sulfur dioxide that killed vegetation, arsenic that poisoned soil and water. The valley around Anaconda became a wasteland. Earlier, shorter stacks concentrated the pollution; farmers and ranchers sued. The company's solution was not to stop polluting but to pollute higher.

The Anaconda Smelter Stack was completed in 1918. At 585 feet, it was the tallest brick structure ever built - designed to send smoke high enough that it would disperse before falling. The engineering was remarkable: 2.5 million bricks laid in a precisely tapered cylinder that narrows from 86 feet at the base to 60 feet at the top. The stack worked as designed; pollution spread over a wider area, reducing concentration near the smelter while contaminating communities downwind. It was a monument to the era's approach to environmental problems: dilute and disperse, never actually clean up.

For over a century, the Anaconda smelter and Butte mines together created what would become the largest Superfund complex in America. The Upper Clark Fork River basin was contaminated with arsenic, copper, and heavy metals. Tailings ponds leaked. Slag piles leached. The 'dead zone' around Anaconda, where vegetation couldn't grow, stretched for miles. When Atlantic Richfield (which had acquired the company) closed the smelter in 1980, the cleanup began - and continues. The Berkeley Pit in Butte filled with toxic water. The contaminated floodplain is being excavated. The Anaconda stack, too contaminated to demolish safely, remains.

The stack couldn't be demolished. It's too full of arsenic and other toxins; tearing it down would create a hazardous dust cloud. So it stands, protected as a historic landmark, preserved as a monument to the industrial era. The surrounding smelter was razed; the slag heaps are being contained; the land is slowly being remediated. But the stack endures - the tallest freestanding masonry structure anywhere, built for industrial poison, now transformed into heritage. Some locals see it as a symbol of community; others as a reminder of exploitation. It's both, and more: a visible scar on the landscape.

The Anaconda Smelter Stack is visible from throughout the valley but is not directly accessible. The best viewpoints are from Anaconda Stack State Park, a small park with interpretive displays about the smelter's history. The stack is on an active Superfund site and cannot be approached. The Washoe Theater in downtown Anaconda is worth a visit - a remarkably ornate 1931 movie palace in an otherwise modest town. The World Museum of Mining in Butte, 26 miles east, provides context on the copper industry. Bert Mooney Airport in Butte has commercial service; Missoula International is 100 miles north. The superfund cleanup continues; the valley is slowly healing.