BUTTE – There’s no safe place for a crow to land at the World Museum of Mining in Butte. Not with all the creepy scarecrows around.
This is the museum’s annual scarecrow contest featuring characters from southwest Montana.
“It’s a little bit of all of them, living and dead. We have several characters here that played a role in Butte history and there’s a few characters still around today that we have scarecrows of,” said Jeanette Kopf of the Mining Museum.
More than 50 scarecrows were designed by local groups and organizers are pleased with the results.
“They hang out outside the museum through rain, snow, wind. You know Butte weather, it changes every minute and they hold out great out here. They’re out the whole month of October,” said Kopf.
Visitors can pick their favorite.
“Every admission you get two votes for a scarecrow, so you can vote on your favorite and the winner this year gets a family membership to the World Museum of Mining,” said Kopf.
Visiting from Canada, Monte Sherman said, “I think it’s pretty cool, I think all the facts that they show and reveal is super neat.”
Facts like those about old Thomas “Peg Leg” Smith, who once had to partially amputate his own leg to avoid an infection. But don’t feel sorry for him — he was kind of a jerk, but that’s the point of the exhibit, that you learn a little bit of history, from the famous to the infamous.
“More importantly, it’s a way to share Butte history and Montana history in a fun, different way,” said Kopf.
If they only had a brain. Admission to the museum is $8 for adults and $5 for students.
Reporting by John Emeigh for MTN News
