Butte Short Line

The Construction Era 1888-1929 Bill & Jan Taylor In 1883, the Northern Pacific Railroad decided to bypass Butte, Montana, in favor of a main line through Helena, 40 miles to the north. Helena appeared to be a more lucrative source of traffic at the time and offered a lower crossing of the continental divide. Within three years the situation changed. Butte began its conversion into a copper mining center. In 1886 the NP began a decade-long struggle to find a route into Butte. This is a history of that effort. 112 pages, paperback, 8.5 x 11 ISBN 978-1-57510-040-1 Pictorial Histories