The Preservation of
a Beautiful History

Since 1986, the Daly Mansion Preservation Trust has used generous dontations and funds to restore the Gem of the Bitterroot Valley to its historic charm.

Chaffin Homestead
Marcus Daly purchased the existing Anthony Chaffin homestead, including the farmhouse.
Remodeling
Completely remodeled with the intent to be the family's summer residence.
Queen Anne Remodel
Because the Daly family did extensive entertaining, the Mansion was remodeled again in 1897 to a Queen Anne style Victorian home.
Plans for a Remodel
This home, when completed, reminded Marcus of a church, so once again, remodeling plans were begun. Marcus Daly died in November of 1900 before the remodeling was started.
Georgian-Revival Home
Mrs. Daly contracted A. J. Gibson of Missoula to go ahead with the remodeling plans. The Queen Anne home was to be incorporated into the new Georgian-Revival style home. The remodeling was completed in 1910.
New Addition
New addition inlcuding the sun room and trophy room were added.
Abandoned Building
After Mrs. Daly's passing, the building was left abandoned till 1986.
DMPT Founded
Founding of the Daly Mansion Preservation Trust.
First Public Tours
The Mansion was first opened to the public in May 1987, after being closed and boarded up for over 45 years following Margaret Daly’s death in 1941.
1886
1889
1897
1898
1910
1914
1941
1986
1987

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PHONE: Drag timeline right to left to view history

History of the Mansion

In 1886 Marcus Daly purchased the existing Anthony Chaffin homestead, including the farmhouse, and had it completely remodeled by 1889. Because the Daly family did extensive entertaining, the Mansion was remodeled again in 1897 to a Queen Anne style Victorian home. This home, when completed, reminded Marcus of a church, so once again, remodeling plans were begun. Marcus Daly died in November of 1900 before the remodeling was started in April of 1909. Mrs. Daly contracted with architect A. J. Gibson of Missoula for the remodeling plans. The Queen Anne home was to be incorporated into the new Georgian-Revival style home. The remodeling was completed in August of 1910.
 
The home has over 50 rooms, with 25 bedrooms, 15 bathrooms, as well as 7 fireplaces, 5 of which have imported Italian marble. The home is three stories for a total of 24,000 square feet, plus a full basement. Some of the main rooms include a large living room, music room, formal dining room, sun room, trophy room which was added in 1914, and upstairs sitting room and a third floor billiard hall.
mrdaly
History of
Marcus Daly
mrsdaly
History of
Margaret Daly
TammanyCastle
History of
Tammany

The Historic Preservation

Preservation of the Mansion was started just as soon as the newly formed by volunteers, Daly Mansion Preservation Trust received the keys to the property towards the end of 1986. They immediately started preservation fund raising and were able to open up the first floor and just a few of the second floor rooms of the home to the public by Mother’s Day 1987. As funding was obtained by the Trust, small scale restoration was continued until a major restoration was funded by 2005.  At that time the home was rewired, an elevator installed, the house made ADA accessible, a new roof and new boiler system installed. The first floor was totally restored, the second floor almost restored and some restoration done on the third floor. 

Not only was the home in need of restoration, the grounds around the home were also needing restored. There are 26.5 acres of lawns, over 400 trees, some of which are well over 100 years old and several historic outbuildings to restore and maintain. 

There is more to do!  You can help by making a donation to the restoration/maintenance fund by clicking on the button below.

On August 23rd, 1986 there was an auction of all the remaining furniture from the Mansion.  Over the year’s people that purchased items at the auction have donated many of the items back and it helps us tell the story of this wonderful home!  If you have, or know of anyone that may have purchased items at the auction, please consider bringing them home. Call or email Darlene. We will be forever grateful.

Did You Know?

  • The original Stock Farm covered over 22,000 acres?
  • Mrs. Daly donated land for the Daly Hospital and the Bitterroot Public Library?
  • Prior to Mr. Daly’s death, he supplied coal at no charge to more than two dozen families in the valley?
  • Tammany Castle was built to house Mr. Daly’s favorite horse Tammany?
  • One of Mr. and Mrs. Daly’s daughters married a count from Hungary?
  • The growth chart on the second floor of the mansion was used to help prove that Montana was Mrs. Daly’s legal residence after she died in 1941?
  • The mansion was abandoned for 45 years after Mrs. Daly died?
  • The land that formerly housed the building where the Dalys stayed in New York City is now occupied by Trump Tower?
  • Daly’s great-granddaughter Candace was killed in an auto accident at the much too young age of 25?
  • Marcus I, Marcus II, and Marcus III all died in November of a year ending in zero?
  • Where the Bower building is now in downtown Hamilton was once the site of Daly’s Mercantile store (it burned down in 1936)?
  • Mr. Daly owned over 1200 horses?
  • In the early years, the Ravalli County Fair was held on Daly property?
  • One of Mrs. Daly’s sisters was married to the brother of Marcus Daly’s arch-enemy and fellow Copper King William Clark?
  • Mrs. Daly owned the very first Lincoln in Ravalli County?

Interested in Learning More?

Contact Darlene Gould at darlene.gould@dalymansion.org or 406-363-6004

Marcus Daly was born December 5, 1841 in county Caven, Ireland, the youngest of eleven children of an Irish farm family. Like most immigrants of the time, Marcus arrived in New York in 1856 with few belongings, very little money and a limited education and job skills. He was only 15 years old at the time. He did odd jobs for the first 5 years until he had saved enough money to buy passage to San Francisco via the Isthmus of Panama and then overland up the coast to California where a sister lived.
His first experience with mining was in California, where he teamed up with another young Irishman named Thomas Murphy. Daly learned quickly and found employment in one of the silver mines of the Comstock Lode in Virginia City, Nevada. It was here that Daly met George Hearst who became one of Daly’s financial backers in years to come.
By 1871, Daly was at Ophir, Utah, and became a foreman for the Walker Brothers, a banking and mining syndicate, in Salt Lake City. In 1872, while Daly was inspecting a mine at Ophir with a Mr. Evans and his daughter Margaret, the young lady lost her balance on an incline and tumbled into Daly’s arms. Later that year they were married in one of the Walker Brothers homes in Salt Lake. Margaret was 18 years old and Marcus was 30. The Daly’s first two children, Margaret Augusta (Madge) and Mary (Molly) were born in Ophir, Utah.
 
In 1874 Marcus Daly became a citizen of the United States. The Walker Brothers sent Daly to the Montana Territory in 1876 to find and invest in a silver mine. Daly bought the Alice mine for the company and retained a one fifth interest for himself. In 1881, Daly sold his interest in the Alice mine and purchased the Anaconda claim, with the backing of George Hearst and his associates, James Ben Ali Haggin and Lloyd Tevis. The Anaconda was mainly a silver mine until they hit the copper vein 300 feet deep and 100 feet wide.
 
Copper was just coming into use for telegraph wire and electricity. Thomas Edison had just completed the world’s first electric light power plant in New York City. Copper was selling for between eighteen and twenty-three cents a pound in the early 1880’s but smelting costs were high because the ore had to be shipped to smelters in Swansea, Wales. Daly realized that there could be a profit in copper if smelting costs could be reduced. Again with the backing of Hearst, Haggin, and Tevis, Daly built a smelter on a site twenty-eighty miles west of Butte. Daly built the town of Anaconda to support his smelter. By 1890, the copper mines of Butte were producing over seventeen million dollars worth of copper a year, and Marcus Daly, although a junior partner in the Anaconda venture, had become a very rich man. The Daly’s only son, Marcus II (Mark) was born in Butte, as well as their fourth child and third daughter, Harriot (Hattie).
 
Marcus Daly was not a man to share confidence or talk about himself. He did not leave the details of the history of his life to be recorded. Shortly after the death of Marcus Daly, his personal records from Anaconda were sent to the Bitterroot Stock Farm and burned. Even letters between Marcus and Margaret were destroyed by Margaret. Daly was stocky and had a dark complexion and the usual Irish temperament. His eyes were clear and his voice in conversation was low and mellow. He spoke with brogue, chewed tobacco and loved to have a beer with his fellow miners. Marcus Daly was a fighter. He did not deal in generalities, he was blunt and forthright, and he was a creator. He was always known to be generous to his friends. Marcus Daly died in New York City’s Netherlands Hotel, November 12, 1900 of complications of diabetes and a bad heart. He was 58 years old. His death came near the New York Harbor, where as a 15 year old Irish immigrant, Marcus Daly first glimpsed the America of his dreams. His remains were placed in the Daly mausoleum in Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.
Margaret Price Daly, was born September 7, 1853 to Zenas and Margaret Holmes Evans, in Quaker City, Ohio. Margaret was one of seven children. Four of her sisters were: Miriam (married to J. Ross Clark, brother of William Clark, Mrs. James Shields, Mrs. Joseph Lewis, Martha (Hattie) Evans; and a brother David. The family moved west sometime between 1860 and 1870. A widow for more than 40 years, Margaret continued to spend time in the Bitterroot Valley, arriving in the spring and leaving in the fall. Her family and friends were frequent visitors. Margaret took an active part in the operations of the Bitterroot Stock Farm. She hired dependable and capable employees. Margaret enjoyed entertaining at her residence called “Riverside”. Dinners at the Mansion were always formal and after the evening meals, coffee was served on the sun porch. Mrs. Daly would gather the children around her just before bedtime and read stories to them in the sitting room.
 
Mrs. Daly had a butler, whose name was Cutler. Cutler and his wife Catherine, traveled to and from New York with Mrs. Daly. Mrs. Daly helped the Boy Scouts financially, allowing them to build the first scout camp in the Skalkaho area. She donated land for the Library to be built, and in memory of her husband, built the Marcus Daly Memorial Hospital. She purchased and donated organs for both the Episcopal churches in Hamilton and Anaconda. In her will, she bequeathed funds to support the MD Hospital. She loved roses and her preference in jewelry was for pearls. She was partial to mahogany furniture and her china included such names as; Royal Daulton, Royal Copenhagen, Limoges, Minton and Dresden. Mrs. Daly died at her summer home, “Riverside” on July 14, 1941. Services were held at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Hamilton, and another service was held in New York at St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church. Burial was at the Greenwood Cemetary in Brooklyn at the Daly mausoleum.
 
While Daly lived, 1200 head of horses were kept on the Bitterroot Stock Farm.  His favorite thoroughbred, Tammany, was foaled in Tennessee in 1889. Marcus bought him in 1891 for $2,500. In 1893 there was a rivalry going on between Tammany and the favorite horse of the East, Lamplighter. A race was set up for the two horses in Guttenberg, New Jersey. Daly had said, “If Tammany beats Lamplighter, I’ll build him a castle.” Tammany won by 4 lengths. His “castle” is located on a hill about a mile east of Hamilton. The castle also housed Daly’s other famous thoroughbred stallions; Hamburg, Inverness, The Pepper and Ogden. Two flags flew on top of the castle, one the American Flag, and the other a flag of Copper and Green, Daly’s racing colors.