Life in Butte has been dominated by the mining of copper, zinc, silver, manganese, gold, lead, molybdenum and arsenic, ever since the city was established in 1862. The first miners dug for gold in the 1860's, while the following decade, silver was the main product that emerged from the mines. Copper was discovered around 1880 and soon Marcus Daly with his Anaconda Copper Mining Company began to exploit the 'richest hill on earth'. In 1955, a massive, open-pit mine, known as the Berkeley, opened. Its expansion forced the relocation of some 20% of Butte's population. 'The Pit' was abandoned in 1982 and has now filled with contaminated water that drained from surrounding mines.

Butte has, in effect, become a laboratory for environmental resuscitation efforts and several pollution-remediation companies are based there. The city is the largest Superfund-site in the United States.

There are various museums of mining and minerals in the city. Other sights include Our Lady of the Rockies and the Copper King Mansion, which was once the residence of William A. Clark. Montana Tech of the University of Montana is situated in Butte and the city also serves as the headquarters of Deerlodge National Forest.

There are several hotels and restaurants in Butte. The city is in the southwest of Montana.