Serving Southern Jefferson County in the Great State of Montana

Creating Fiction from History: 11/3/2021

The tornado came, it saw, and it conquered! When the Donner twins were born, the Great Whirlwind which heralded their coming also signaled the course that their lives would forever take.

With the meager means at his disposal, Robert Donner prepared his twins for the hard, often rough and tumble life of the early 1900s West. It could well be argued that Butte, Montana, especially in this early era, was even more rough and tumble than most.

After his primary means of employment, the Parrot smelter, was shut down in 1899, Mr. Donner found work at the Colusa, owned by the Copper King, William A. Clark. All went well for quite some time, but it was the Labor Riots of 1914 which put an end, both to Robert’s career and indeed, his very life.

As one can readily imagine, the death of her husband had such a profound impact on Miriam Donner’s own life that, after several years in and out of the hospital, the twins found themselves orphaned at the tender age of 22. Although both girls had beaus aplenty since their mid to late teens, no serious suitor had ever made a proposal to either girl.

Seeing that they were on their own, the Whirlwind pair struck out in earnest, building a totally different life for themselves. From their humble lodges in the honest little miner’s shanty in the hills on the outskirts of Butte, the Tornado Twins found a suitable residence in the Butchertown neighborhood of the upper end of Butte, which is now known as Walkerville and set up shop. A more determined, sometimes ruthless pair you’d never want to meet, and to be honest, more than one fine gentleman lost his shirt after he had endeavored to do them harm, in some way.

Want to create fiction from history? Stop by the Ledger office and choose a photo from the Jefferson Valley Museum Archives to write a fictional story on.

 

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