The Daly legacy truly came into existence in 1876. Daly went to Butte, Montana to assess the quality of the Alice Silver Mine for the Walker Brothers (Shoebotham, 1956). Upon his recommendation, the company bought the mine and Daly acquired a 1/5 interest in the property, but continued to keep on the lookout for other moneymaking ventures (Bonner Milltown History: Marcus Daly). In 1881, he sold his share in the Alice mine for a sizeable profit and purchased the Anaconda mining claim from prospector Michael Hickey (Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2004). Historians have long wondered Daly knew that the mine contained copper or if he was just lucky (Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2004). Daly soon acquired multiple adjoining claims and entered…show more content… He purchased coalmines to help fund his many ventures, bought vast areas of timber to power the mills and smelter, and built power plants to supply the mines and towns he had helped build (Bonner Milltown History: Marcus Daly). In fact, Daly was influential in establishing the Bonner Mill (Bonner Milltown History: Marcus Daly). In 1882, he joined forces with A.B. Hammond and others to form the Montana Improvement Company to capitalize on the seemingly unlimited timber resources in western Montana (Bonner Milltown History: Marcus Daly). Under the leadership of Hammond, the Bonner Mill was constructed. The mill had large contracts to supply the mines in Butte, but the relationship was strife with turmoil. In 1889, when Hammond refused to support Daly politically, Daly cancelled the contract. Daly eventually bought the mill from Hammond in August 1898 and it became a part of the Anaconda Mining Company, as its Lumber Division (Bonner Milltown History: Marcus Daly). In addition to his ventures in timber and coal, Daly branched out into banking, journalism, railroads, municipalities, agriculture, and politics (Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2004). Daly founded several lending institutions, established the influential Anaconda Standard, owned the Butte, Anaconda and Pacific Railroad, owned the Butte City Water Company, and in 1889 he bought a 22,000 acre ranch in the Bitterroot Valley, and established the town of…show more content… Although he did not have a personal desire to hold office, Daly was a prominent player in the arena at the time (Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2004). His activities were aimed at frustrating the political ambitions of his archrival in copper mining, William Andrews Clark (Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2004). Daly spent his energy manipulating voters and influential members of the public and government in an effort to keep Clark out of office (Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2004). Daly threw his money behind several Democrats who were running for seats in the state and national legislatures (Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2004). This was not done out of any sense of political alignment, but simply because they were opposing Clark in his bids for office and their elections would give Daly free reign in timber harvesting activities (Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2004). Daly also waged a very expensive and unsuccessful fight to make Anaconda the state capital (Shoebotham, 1956). The rivalry between Daly and Clark lasted several years and is known as The War of the Copper Kings. To this day, their rivalry is one of the most famous rivalries in business