Gold Butte (Montana)

Last updated
Gold Butte
Gold Butte.jpg
Northwest aspect
Highest point
Elevation 6,512 ft (1,985 m) [1] [2]
Prominence 2,342 ft (714 m) [2]
Parent peak Mount Royal (6,914 ft) [2]
Isolation 9.17 mi (14.76 km) [2]
Coordinates 48°50′53″N111°22′30″W / 48.8481743°N 111.3749715°W / 48.8481743; -111.3749715 [3]
Geography
USA Montana relief location map.jpg
Red triangle with thick white border.svg
Gold Butte
Location in Montana
Usa edcp relief location map.png
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Gold Butte
Location in the United States
CountryUnited States
State Montana
County Toole
Parent range Sweet Grass Hills [1]
Topo map USGS Grassy Butte
Geology
Age of rock Eocene
Mountain type Laccolith
Type of rock Igneous rock (Diorite)
Climbing
Easiest route class 2

Gold Butte is a 6,512-foot (1,985-metre) mountain summit located in Toole County, Montana, United States. [3]

Contents

Description

Gold Butte is part of the Sweet Grass Hills and ranks as the fourth-highest peak in the range, [1] and second-highest in the county. [2] It is situated 32 miles (51 km) northeast of Shelby, Montana, and 10 miles (16 km) south of the Canada–United States border, on land administered by the Bureau of Land Management. [4] Precipitation runoff from the mountain drains south to the Marias River and north to the Milk River. [1] Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises over 2,400 feet (730 meters) above the surrounding plains in less than two miles.

Gold Butte Gold Butte - Flickr - pellaea.jpg
Gold Butte

Geology

Gold Butte is an exposed laccolith composed of diorite porphyry which was created by an igneous intrusion through older Cretaceous sedimentary rocks during the Eocene, about 50 million years ago. [4] [5] Dikes and sills radiate across the conical mass. Over time, erosion of the sedimentary rock has exposed the solidified laccolith which is more resistant to weathering. Minor amounts of gold and silver were produced by placer mining in a gulch on the north slope during the late-19th and early-20th centuries. [4] The yield was likely less than 2,000 ounces of gold. [5]

History

The Sweet Grass Hills are sacred to the Blackfoot and other tribes. [6] Mountain Chief, Calf Tail, and Bull Lodge experienced their respective vision quests on Gold Butte. [5] The ghost town of "Gold Butte" was a gold-mining camp located on the mountain's northwest slope after gold was discovered here in 1884. [7] [8] The landform's toponym has been officially adopted by the United States Board on Geographic Names. [3]

Climate

Based on the Köppen climate classification, Gold Butte is located in a semi-arid climate zone with long, cold, dry winters and hot summers with cool nights. [5] [9] Winter temperatures can drop below −10 °F with wind chill factors below −30 °F.

See also

Related Research Articles

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The Sweet Grass Hills are a small group of low mountains rising more than 3,000 feet (910 m) above the surrounding plains southwest of Whitlash, Montana, in Liberty and Toole County, Montana. The tallest point in the hills is West Butte at 6,983 feet (2,128 m). Quite prominent in the local area, they are clearly visible from US Highway 2 to the south, I-15, and can sometimes be seen as far North as the Crowsnest Highway (Highway 3) near Medicine Hat in Alberta as well as from the West, near Glacier National Park and Browning, Montana. Visibility may vary depending on local air temperatures or heat domes that may increase or decrease the apparent height of the features. Other named peaks in the small group are Gold Butte (6,512 ft [1,985 m]), East Butte, and Mount Lebanon (5,807 ft [1,770 m]). The Sweet Grass Hills are an example of the island ranges that dot the central third portion of the state of Montana. These island ranges, completely surrounded by the 'sea' of plains and not geographically part of the Rocky Mountains to the west, are "biological hotspots", containing more species than the prairie below.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Beckwith Mountain</span> Mountain in Colorado, USA

West Beckwith Mountain is a prominent mountain summit in the West Elk Mountains range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The 12,185-foot (3,714 m) peak is located in the West Elk Wilderness of Gunnison National Forest, about 16.5 miles (26.5 km) southwest of Crested Butte in Gunnison County, Colorado, United States.

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Mount Logan is an 8,413-foot-elevation (2,564-meter) mountain summit located in Garfield County, Colorado, United States. This peak is situated 5 miles (8.0 km) north of the community of De Beque, and 31 miles (50 km) northeast of Grand Junction. Interstate 70 traverses the southeast base of the mountain. Precipitation runoff from this landform drains into the Colorado River, and topographic relief is significant as the summit rises 3,500 feet above the river in three miles (4.8 km). The mountain and surrounding area is controlled by the Bureau of Land Management. This landform's toponym has appeared in publications since at least 1913, and has been officially adopted by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Gold Butte, Montana". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved 2023-07-22.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Gold Butte - 6,512' MT". listsofjohn.com. Retrieved 2023-07-22.
  3. 1 2 3 "Gold Butte". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior . Retrieved 2023-07-22.
  4. 1 2 3 Sweet Grass Hills, blm.gov, Retrieved 2023-07-22.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Sweet Grass Hills Resource(s) Management Plan (RMP) Amendment and West HiLine Resource(s) Management Plan (RMP), Toole County, Liberty County: Environmental Impact Statement, 1996, p. 13, 19.
  6. Rich Aarstad, Montana Place Names from Alzada to Zortman, Montana Historical Society, 2009, ISBN   9780975919613, p. 259.
  7. Jerry Grant (2020), Grants Mining Districts of the Western United States: Volume 2, Xlibris Corporation, ISBN   9781664149021
  8. "Gold Butte". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior . Retrieved 2023-07-22.
  9. Peel, M. C.; Finlayson, B. L.; McMahon, T. A. (2007). "Updated world map of the Köppen−Geiger climate classification". Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 11. ISSN   1027-5606.