He has been called Butte’s “Accidental Historian.”

Richard Gibson was born in Arkansas, raised in Flint, Michigan and educated at Indiana University in Bloomington. You will look long and hard, however, before you find someone who knows more about the history of Butte than Richard.

He is a geologist by trade. That is what Richard studied at Indiana University and the IU Geologic Field Station in Montana’s Tabacco Root Mountains. He analyzed the mineralogy of kidney stones, worked as a geophysicist in the oil industry and interpreted magnetic maps in the former Soviet Union.

Eventually, Richard made his way to Butte because he loved the mountains and the low population. Then he fell in love with the rich history of the Mining City.

Richard started volunteering at the World Museum of Mining and became the education director. He became involved with the Mai Wah Chinese Museum and the local Historic Preservation Commission, and he gave guided history tours of Butte.

He drove and led trolley tours, and he even wrote a book called “Lost Butte, Montana.”

Richard also had a nice run of writing history columns for The Montana Standard. He didn’t just focus on all the stories we already heard about. He instead told us about the obscure, yet instrumental historical characters and places.

Today, you can find Richard on his blog on Substack, where he writes about geology and more. He is currently working on a project on Butte’s Greenway Trail, and I cannot wait to check that out.

Listen in to this podcast as Richard talks about growing up in Flint, his days in Indian and his long road of work that proceeded him coming to Butte. Listen in to hear about the historic “Clown House” he resides in on the Butte Hill. Listen to hear his passion about Butte.

Today’s podcast is presented by Casagranda’s Steakhouse. Eat where the locals eat.