Twilight of an Era

By editor

Missoula, Missoula County, Montana

Now, when a man like W.A. Clark sets his mind to something, it’s best to sit up and take notice. This is no ordinary man; he is the copper king of Butte, a United States Senator, and one of the richest fellas Montana has ever seen or is likely to see again--unless you count a gold rush or two. Around 1904, he had the notion to buy 20 acres of land right where the Clark Fork and Blackfoot Rivers meet east of Missoula. Why? Not for a picnic spot or a fishing hole, mind you, but because he had his eye on the future--electricity. The city and its surroundings were growing hungry for power, and Clark aimed to feed that appetite.

Construction of the Milltown Dam began in September 1905, moving along quicker than a Mississippi riverboat in high water, and by 1907 the thing was up and running. Clark wasn’t just stopping at producing electricity; he went and moved his Western Lumber Company from Lothrop to Milltown in 1911, turning the place into a lumber town as well as a powerhouse--quite literally. The dam, with its peak generation capacity of 3,400 kilowatts, provided juice not only for the mills and the towns of Bonner and Milltown but also for Missoula and the rural stretches around it. This was the early 20th century’s version of getting your phone charged and your lights on after dark.

Now, this dam was no small rickety affair cobbled together by amateurs. It was a timber crib dam, 220 feet long, filled with rock and set on ten-inch square timbers hammered deep into the riverbed and secured by pilings. The spillway was roughly 40 feet tall--built to withstand the weight and pressure with nothing but the sheer gravity of the rock-filled cribs holding it in place. The powerhouse itself was a brick and reinforced concrete structure, a solid bit of architecture that measured 126 feet long by 65 feet wide. This was a serious enterprise, built to last and to harness the wild energy of those rivers.

Clark’s dam was more than just a piece of infrastructure; it shaped the culture and landscape of that corner of Montana. The dam powered industry, yes, but it also powered the lives of the people who lived and worked there. It gave the community a solid livelihood and a sense of ownership, turning what had been a frontier outpost into a place with its own identity and pride. The dam’s story is woven into almost a century of history in this region--a proud, if complicated, journey.

As the years rolled on, the dam changed hands multiple times. From Clark, it went to the Missoula Light and Water Company in 1916, then to the Missoula Public Service Company in 1924, and later to the Montana Power Company in 1929. Each new owner had their own plans and priorities, but the dam remained a steady presence in the landscape. Eventually, in 2002, Northwestern Energy took over. By that time, however, the dam was no longer just a symbol of progress--it had become something else altogether.

You see, upstream from Milltown sat the Anaconda smelter, a grand operation that processed copper ore but also left behind a legacy of pollution. Over the decades, sediment contaminated with copper and other metals washed downstream, settling into the reservoir behind Milltown Dam. By the 21st century, the reservoir was filled with an estimated 6.6 million cubic yards of copper-laden sediment--a toxic stew that made the site a Superfund location, one of those places the government sets aside for cleanup because it’s too dangerous to ignore.

The irony here is as thick as the sediment itself: the dam that was built to harness nature’s power had also become a dam that held back a dangerous legacy of industrial waste. For years, the contaminated sediment posed risks to fish, wildlife, and the health of people living nearby. Something had to give.

In 2008, after much debate and planning, the Milltown Dam was removed--the largest dam removal in Montana’s history. For the first time in a century, the Clark Fork River flowed free through the Milltown confluence, washing away not just the dam but also opening a pathway to restoring the river’s health. This was no small feat. Removing a dam that had stood for over one hundred years was like tearing down a monument--except this monument was part villain, part hero.

W.A. Clark, the man whose vision had sparked this entire saga, once remarked, “The way to break the chains of the past is not to ignore them, but to understand them.” In removing the dam, Montana took a step toward understanding and reckoning with its complicated history--embracing change, even when it means letting go of the familiar.

The story of Milltown Dam is a story of ambition, industry, environmental consequence, and eventual renewal. It mirrors the broader history of Montana itself: a state shaped by the pursuit of natural riches, the ingenuity and grit of its people, and the ongoing challenge of balancing progress with preservation. The rivers still run, the forests grow tall, and the communities continue to evolve--each carrying with them the marks of a past that is never quite finished.

See also

• Twilight of an Era at Missoula, Missoula County
• Contributions of the Washoe Smelter at Anaconda, Deer Lodge County
• Silver Bow Creek Remediation and Restoration at Butte, Silver Bow County

The removal of the Milltown Dam didn’t just clear the way for cleaner water and healthier fish--it cleared a path for Montana to reckon with the complexities of its industrial age. It reminds us that progress is never a straight line, and sometimes the best way forward is to let the river run free once more.