Our Lady of the Rockies
It was my first time traveling to Montana. Just the opportunity to travel to the Big Sky state is a bucket list trip. For my #audittraveladventures I ventured to the town of Butte. The drive between Helena (where I flew in) and Butte was beautiful. It was exactly as I expected. I scoped out the town a little before going but hadn’t decided on anything in particular to see or do. As I drove into town, a gleaming white statue on the mountain to my left caught my eye. I made a mental note to check into it later. My next two days of audit work went as expected. I inquired of my client of recommendations of things to do or see in town, and specifically that statue. Two were noted: 1) a memorial to the miners who lost their lives in a mining accident in 1917…100 years earlier, and…2) Our Lady of the Rockies, the gleaming white statue I saw on my drive in. When my audit was complete, and before heading back to Helena for my flight home, first I stopped at the Memorial to the 168 Men who died in the Granite Mountain-Speculator Fire. This was a special place – it was well done and a lot of thought went in to it. Walking through it you can get a sense of how much it means to this town.
When in Butte, a must see is Our Lady of the Rockies – a statue that sits above the city atop the Continental Divide. In 1979, a local man’s wife had cancer and was undergoing surgery. He promised that if she survived he would build a statue…maybe 5 feet tall. His wife survived and he told his dream to his friend (Leroy Lee), who would eventually be the primary builder. The town came together and made it happen by 1985. Roughly 90 ft tall. The man who first made the promise died the year before and at the time of my visit his wife is still living. There is a women’s memorial on the site; inside the statue people leave written prayers, rosaries, candles, etc. Inside the main building is a heart – that is to scale with the statue. You can drop in written prayers. During this trip when I was in the gift shop in town, purchasing my ticket to go see the statue, I was browsing and found little pendants of saints. My oldest son Jerome is named for Saint Jerome, and my youngest son, who we call Diego, is actually named Raphael for Saint Raphael. I purchased a pendant of each boys’ Saint, as well as for Saint Diego for the nickname. Since that trip, I wear a necklace of those pendants on my travels…they don’t feel quite so far away wearing it.
