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his employees. According to a local story, around 1898 Clark was out riding in
his carriage when he spied children playing in the arsenic-laden dirt. Inspired
to create a better place for children to play, he created Columbia Gardens, a
68-acre playground and amusement park. On Thursdays, he offered Butte’s
children free transportation to the Gardens on his electric trolley system.
The Gardens boasted a playground with giant swings, see-saw, a
merry-go-round and a zoo. The most popular feature was “The Chute,”
a flume-like slide that plunged down a hill into a man-made lake. Those
brave enough to try it would race down the slide in a little boat. By 1914,
the Gardens had acquired a roller coaster and carousel and other carnival
standards, including a Mission Revival style arcade. (The Gardens were
torn down in 1973 to make way for a pit mine.)
Although Clark is also credited with forming the first electric light
company and for donating money to the local YMCA and the First
Presbyterian Church, he was still more infamous than famous, even in Butte.
His infamy stems from the attempt to buy himself a seat in the U.S. Senate.
Buying an Election
It was not easy to be honestly elected in Montana in the 1890s. Before
1913, senators were elected by the state legislatures. According to A.D.
Hopkins’ article, in 1893 Clark ran against Marcus Daly for a seat in the
U.S. Senate, but neither was able to obtain a majority. During the 1898
statewide election, masked men attempted to steal the ballot box and two
election officials were gunned down. In the end, the candidates supported
by Marcus Daly won by a landslide.
For the 1899 Senate race, Clark bribed the Montana legislature
but was caught when one of the legislators revealed the bribe money
during a session of the state legislature. Clark claimed he hadn’t given the
money, but that Marcus Daly had planted it in an attempt to discredit his
election. For some reason, calls for a grand jury investigation evaporated
and Clark became Senator.
In Washington, D.C., Clark’s election was challenged by the Senate
Committee on Privileges and Elections.
The New York Times
of May
20, 1900 reported, “…while finding witnesses on both sides to be
almost unworthy of belief, the committee discovered enough proof of
A statue of Marcus Daly in Butte, Montana (Courtesy of Library of Congress)
Puck (1877-1918), a magazine of humor and political satire, lampooned Senator
Clark in 1901 (Courtesy of Library of Congress)