For decades, Elton “Mick” Ringsak Jr. was an owner an operator at Miller’s Boots and Shoes in Butte. He and his partner Dan McElroy ran the business decades, and Miller’s was known its high-quality footwear — as well as its cats roaming the store.

There is a whole lot more than boots and shoes about Mick, though. For one thing, did you know he was once knighted? Yes, we should be calling him “Sir Mick Ringsak.”

Mick, who grew up in North Dakota, is a decorated Army veteran who served during the Vietnam War. He has also been a mover and a shaker in the political world. He calls himself an Eisenhower Republican, and he is strong in his conviction that he doesn’t like either major party presidential candidate again in 2024.

He was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as the Small Business Administration’s Region 8 administrator, and he has been a member of the Upper Clark Fork River Advisory Council.

Mick, whose friendship with staunch Democrat Evan Barrett led Montana Standard writer Mike Smith to call the two the “Political Odd Couple,” is heavily involved in local politics as well. The two are known as “watchdogs,” when it comes to the Superfund cleanup in Butte.

Mick is very smart, and he is very funny. If you check out this podcast, you will see that.

Listen into this conversation to hear Mick explain why he was knighted. Listen to hear how he ended up moving to Butte after his service in the military. Listen to where the name “Mick” came from. Listen to how he advised his friend H. Ross Perot to not run for president again in 1996.

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