Hamilton Things to Do

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A southern mansion in the wilds of the Bitterroot Valley of Montana, right in the middle of the town of Hamilton. It was in the 1880's that Marcus Daly, founder of the Anaconda Mining Company and established the town of Hamilton, with his lumber industry, built his "modest" summer home for his family on his 22,000 acre Bitterroot Stock Farm and the Daly Mansion was known as "Riverside". The Bitterroot river runs through Hamilton and is a beautiful scenic river with many trees and the mountains in the backdrop.

"Riverside" was remodeled after Marcus Daly's death in 1900, completed by 1910, at the wishes of Margaret Daly, his widow. Called Georgian Revival style it was designed by A.J. Gibson and it contains 25 bedrooms, 15 bathrooms, and 7 fireplaces. Italian marble was used throughout the house and 5 of the fireplaces are faced with Italian marble. I was impressed with the space and design of the rooms and the way the light entered the windows for each room.

The cooler room, next to the kitchen, was huge for it's day (I could walk around inside as if it were a commercial refrigerator) and still seemed quite cool as the air temperature outside was around 83 F. No refrigeration needed with this size and type of cooler. Fine furniture of the day and wonderfull rugs filled each room. The wallpaper of each room was chosen by Margaret Daly and to this day, many rolls still are stored for use, if damage were to occur. The grounds include a swimming pool, tennis court, greenhouse, children's playhouse, laundry building, boathouse, and fifty species of trees, one of which is maple and the syrup that is drawn from the maple trees is sold in the gift store located inside the mansion.

The Mansion was closed after Mrs. Daly's death in 1941 and boarded up until 1987, when it was reopened to the public. Owned today by the State of Montana and managed by the Daly Mansion Preservation Trust. The Daly Mansion "Riverside" is a National Historic Site. Tours are given from May through October.