Description: "Born in 1841 to tenant farmers, Marcus Daly came from rural Ireland to New York as a boy. Having learned the big city's harsh lessons, he traveled west to the gold and silver mining camps of California, Nevada, Utah and Montana. Then, a spectacular discovery in the Anaconda mine him one of Montana's famed Copper Kings. Yet, his early life remained shrouded in myth. Famed for his machinations in state politics and shaping Butte into the "Richest Hill on Earth," his path from farm boy to mining king has been overlooked. For the first time, author Brenda Wahler brings his secretive and formative early years to life."--Back cover.
Brief description: Brenda Wahler is a fourth-generation Montanan. An attorney, historian and equine consultant, she and her husband live near Helena, Montana.
Review Quotes:
When 'Copper King' Marcus Daly instructed all his records be burned upon his death, he may not have anticipated that a Helena-based author would work so hard more than a century later to find what he couldn't burn....
-Kasey Faur--Montana Standar
MTN's John Emeigh talks with Helena author Brenda Wahler about her new book, Marcus Daly's Road to Montana.
"A lot of people don't know that [Marcus Daly] asked for a lot of his papers to be burnt upon his death," Mendrey said. "[Wahler] had to do a lot of sleuthing and searching for information on Marcus Daly. As a lawyer, she had access to documents and also has the ability to do that level of research, so it comes at it from that angle. We're excited to have her at the museum because we share that interest in history."
In an interview with the Chronicle -- which has been edited for length and clarity -- Wahler shares her own connections to the late Copper King and the troubles she went through writing about a man who actively went out of his way to avoid publicity. A biography, the intimate details of Daly's well-traveled life are laid out, from the jobs he created in Butte to the stables in which he bred horses near the Bitterroot Mountains.
Laurenz Busch, Bozeman Daily Chronicle
Wahler's well-written book contains many morsels that will be precious to students of Daly's career.