Marcus Daly: Shrewdness at Its Best

Marcus Daly was an American copper entrepreneur who was popularly known as one of the three “Copper Kings”. He was born in 1841 in Ireland and moved to New York City when he was just 15. Later on, he transferred to California where he got a job as a miner with J.W. Mackay and J.G. Fair, known as “Silver Kings”.

A large company sent Daly to scout dew silver mines located in Butte, Montana in 1876. During his investigation, Daly discovered rich copper deposits beneath the silver. Quietly, Daly purchased the silver mine in Anaconda because of the copper. With the help of investors like George Hearst, Daly acquired the surrounding mines and founded his own mining company, the Anaconda Copper Mining Company (ACMC). He constructed a smelter in Anaconda and built a rail to connect it to Butte.

Daly was very successful in his pursuits that Anaconda almost became a household name in the US. At one time, ACMC was the largest employer in Montana. Daly has an exceptional business strategy that almost assured his unmatched success in mining. He fueled his furnaces by buying coal mines. He bought forests that provided him timber. He constructed his own power plant to supply electricity to the mines. He established a few banks to take care of the finances of his company. He also founded a newspaper, the Anaconda Standard, which became very influential in Montana. Daly was a millionaire by 1895.

William Clark was Daly’s number one competitor. The bitter competition led into an industry turmoil that lasted for many years. The feud even reached the political arena. Although Daly did not seek public office, he had such strong political machinery that affected Clark’s political ambitions for a long time. Clark was kept off public office because Daly supported his political opponents.

Daly’s active involvement in politics led him to found the town of Anaconda where his smelter was found. He tried to use political machinations to make Anaconda the state capital of Montana. However, his efforts were unsuccessful.