Irish In The West

For the Irish, the first western frontier they confronted was the West of trapping and the fur trade. Like other trappers, Irish trappers were in search of beaver. Irish trappers traveled in parts of the Far West that few other white men had trod. They were among the first Americans to see the Rocky and Sierra Nevada mountains. There were other Irishmen who settled early in the Far West who did not make a living in the fur trade. A few married into wealthy Mexican families and lived as ranch owners; others made their fortunes by trading.

The first great Irish migration west came as a result of the California Gold Rush in 1849. Initially, it was gold that was the lure, but other metals proved to be far more valuable to the growth of the United States. Irish miners would eventually make up one third of those digging for gold, silver, copper, lead, and other resources. Mining camps often had an Irish feel to them. Conditions in the camps could often be harsh; miners had to live off low wages and worked long hours. Due to these harsh conditions, groups such as the Knights of Labor and the Industrial Workers of the World were often successful in getting Irish miners to join their organizations. Not all Irish came with the intention of staying. Many Irishmen came west looking to earn money that they could take back with them to Ireland.

One of the first western cities to feel the impact of the Irish-American migration was San Francisco. Many of the Irish came as a result of serving in the U.S. Army during the Mexican War, but it was the gold rush of 1849 that really attracted them. In 1850, there were four thousand Irish in the Bay Area in search of a better life. By 1890, half of San Francisco's population of 150,000 was of Irish descent. The number of Irish that settled in San Francisco waxed and waned from the time of the gold rush in 1849 to the 1920s. During the Great Depression there was very little Irish immigration, but that changed in the 1950s and 1960s. Today, about 10 percent of San Francisco's population is of Irish origin. For early settlers of the Bay Area, there was opportunity, particularly if one could speak English.

Politics was an area in which many Irishmen got involved. In 1867, Frank McCoppin was elected San Francisco's first mayor, two decades before Boston elected its first Irish mayor. David Broderick was the first Irish Catholic elected to the U.S. Senate. He had originally got his political start in San Francisco. The Irish did face their share of prejudice in the Bay Area. Graves can be found of those who died at the hands of vigilantes, but conditions were not so bad that the Irish had to live in separate areas of the city, as in Boston.

A second city that drew a large Irish population in the Far West was Butte, Montana. In 1900, there were 12,000 people of Irish descent residing in the mining town of Butte. The majority of the Irish living in Butte originally came from Cork in Ireland. Many of those who came from Cork had worked in copper mines, which came to be an advantage in Butte. The Anaconda Copper Company, owned by Irishman Marcus Daly, was by the 1890s supplying the United States with a third of its copper. Anaconda miners were paid twice the normal rate of $3.50 for an eight-hour workday and led the nation in per capita income and union membership. Daly, a former miner, did much to endear himself to the miners and the people of Butte, such as constructing banks and irrigation systems. Following Daly's tenure as chief executive officer of the corporation, three other Irish Catholics would serve as chief executive officer of the Anaconda Copper Company. Irish mutual aid societies were created, including the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the Robert Emmet Literary Society, and the Clan-na-Gael.

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