*The Big Stack at night, unknown date, (pre 1957). [2023.043.0179]*

The Black Eagle Big Stack was an icon. Now it feels as though a piece of Great Falls was gone forever. It represented once lofty dreams and idealism of what Great Falls could become. It stood for the local people, their strength and endurance.

In 1906, the Boston and Montana Consolidated Copper and Silver Mining Company became a subsidiary of Amalgamated Copper Company. At that time, Amalgamated set aside the sum of $1,500,000 to enlarge, remodel and improve the works of the Boston and Montana Company in Great Falls. Their plans were to increase the plant by at least 50 percent. As part of that master plan, was to be built a new smokestack.

*Model of the new stack compared with other structures in a window display at Murphy Maclay Hardware Store on Central Ave, Great Falls, MT. Display done by Henry Dieterle, May 1907. [1984.116.0004]*

“Proportionate increase will be made in all other departments, with general improvements and remodeling, and there will be general reconstruction of the enormous flues, with the erection, on Indian point, of the highest smokestack in the world, this alone to cost $200,000. This stack will be 500 feet in height, as compared with a height of 300 feet for the great Washoe stack at Anaconda, and its inside diameter at its highest point will be 50 feet. The new stack will rise between 650 and 700 feet above the river and will be at least 20 feet higher than any other stack in the world.” – Great Falls Tribune, December 16, 1906.

The contract for building the new smokestack was given to Alphons Custodis Construction Company of New York. From December to July, the land was cleared, and a foundation was laid. The concrete ring was 28 feet thick at the bottom and 8 feet thick at the top. A brick plant was built in July of 1907 and pushed out 120 tons of perforated radial bricks per day. A railroad line was built to the plant to deliver the needed supplies. The clay for the bricks mostly came from the clay banks at Fields, south of the city, but a small portion was local clay from near the plant. They were made in five sizes, to be used in various parts of the stack. The winter of 1907-1908 caused some delay and the first brick of the stack was placed on April 7, 1908.

The first brick was laid by Benjamin F. Thayer, Representative of Henry H. Rogers, who was the president of Amalgamated Copper Company. The second brick was laid by John D. Ryan, managing director of the Amalgamated Copper Company. The third brick was laid by C. E. Goodale, superintendent of the Boston and Montana Properties. Before the fourth brick was laid by A. E. Wheeler, Superintendent of the Boston and Montan Smelter, the foreman threw a copper cent into the mortar for good luck. Mr. Wheeler then added a silver dime from 1907 before placing his brick.

The construction of the stack employed 100 men, 40 of which were expert high chimney men. The method of building chimneys with perforated radial brick was originated by Alphons Custodis, in Germany, about 1868. By the time of the Big Stack, the company had built 6000 chimneys all over the world. The stack would have the immense duty of carrying off 4,000,000 cubic feet of gases every minute, consisting of mainly sulphuric acid fumes. To prevent the acid from destroying the brick and mortar, acid proof brick and mortar line the inside of the chimney. A new flue, 1800 feet long, was also being built connecting the furnaces with the new chimney.

One of the men building the stack was Ralph Jones, bricklayer. On July 9, 1908, at about 10:15 in the morning, Ralph took a false step and fell from his scaffold, 180 feet down to the ground. He tried to grab some of the scaffolding on his way down, but it just put him into a somersault. He was terribly broken and bruised, but conscious upon hitting the ground. He was taken to the office then an ambulance came and took him to Columbus Hospital. He was dead on arrival. The Bricklayers’ union took care of his funeral, and he was buried out at Highland Cemetery.

Stack beginning to be built, April-May 1908 [2021.005.0025]

Stack at 65 ft high, May 18, 1908 [2007.017.0275]

Stack at 112 ft high, June 2, 1908 [2007.017.0277]

Stack at about 150 ft, June-July, 1908. [2007.017.0274]

Stack at 400 ft, August 27, 1908 [1992.066.0019a]

Stack at 460 ft, September 9, 1908 [2019.001.0007]

Stack completed, October 22, 1908 [2023.043.0128]

The last brick of the stack was laid on October 23, 1908. Sadly, another was claimed in May of 1909. Peter C. Yeager was helping to remove the scaffolding from the inside of the stack as part of the lining process. While he was knocking a timber loose, the one he was standing on either tipped or gave way. He fell 220 feet; his body being brutalized by scaffolding on the way down. His body was unrecognizable when it reached the ground. He was killed somewhere on the way down. His body was sent home to Shamokin, PA to be buried.

Finally, after all the blood, sweat and sacrifices, the smokestack issued its first smoke on June 12, 1909. Now completed, it was the tallest smokestack in the world at 506 feet tall. The Black Eagle Big stack was the tallest in all the world from 1908-1914. It was dethroned by the Hitachi Smelter Stack in Hitachi, Ibaraki, Japan. The title of tallest then went to the stack that was built in Anaconda in 1919 until 1937. In 1910, several companies merged, and the smelter came under the ownership of the Anaconda Copper Mining Company. In 1915, the little stack that stood nearby was torn down. The Big Stack in Black Eagle worked well even as the smelter grew and added to its workload. Over the summer of 1955, iron bands were placed on the stack for structural support. In 1957, the top 150 ft of the stack was painted to help seal against moisture. In 1959, repairs due to interior deterioration were done, despite a strike happening as well. The interior repairs were the first time the inside of the stack got a cleaning since it began its work. The cleaning was done by personnel of the Custodis Company with help from the local unions.

*Looking up the Big Stack ladder from the bottom, between 1955 and 1976. [1982.017.0283]*

*The Big Stack with paint and bands, date unknown (after 1957). [1995.071.0052g]*

*Inspection of inside of the Stack showing erosion, 1959. [2023.043.0108]*

Anaconda ran into tough times and started closing down different parts of the smelter to try and keep going. The Zinc plant was the first to close and on August 7, 1972, the Big Stack gave its last puff, never to smoke again. May of 1976, the bands that had been placed on the stack for stability were removed and sent to be used on the stack in Anaconda. In 1977, the smelter was sold to Atlantic Richfield Co. (ARCO), but the change in environmental standards and the age of the smelter itself caused the smelter to close September 29, 1980.

The stack having lost its purpose and its physical supports, was eyed to join the fall of the rest the smelter buildings. Cracks began to appear, and ARCO decided the stack was unstable. The citizens of Black Eagle and Great Falls rallied, and a campaign to save the stack was born under Greg Kecskes. S.O.S. became their battle cry, a song was born, suggestions for alternate uses were given and even legal options were explored to try and keep the monument. They even went so far as to send letters to President Ronald Reagan. They needed to raise $350,000-$500,000 to re-secure the stack. But all to no avail. Dykon Inc., a demolition company, was hired to take down the stack. 200 holes were bored in the base of the stack and filled with explosives. On September 18, 1982, time stopped as everyone in the area held their breath. Dynamite charges took down the once untouchable stack. It gave one final stubborn stand, with only half the stack going down, causing the demolition team to scrabble to acquire more dynamite elsewhere in the state.

*Photo sequence of the Big Stack coming down, Scott Photography, September 18, 1982, [2020.009.0007]*

The Big Stack is gone. We’ve now reached the point where 2 generations have never seen it, know nothing of the smelter it was part of, and don’t understand entirely how important it was to their parents and grandparents. It had been part of many families’ Christmas traditions, it was always there to welcome them home from road trips, it was a looming presence that now no longer left even a ghost on the landscape. It only lives in the hearts of those who remember it. One day there may be a monument to it, but for now, we can at least share it with you.

*Great Falls Baseball Game with Stack in the distance, 1943-1945. [2011.120.0817]*

And for all you technical types, the following is the most detailed information about the stack we could find. Enjoy!

Inside Top Diameter – 50 Feet

Outside Bottom Diameter of Round Column – 73 Feet 11 5/8 Inches

Outside Bottom Diameter across Flats of Octagonal Base – 78 Feet 6 Inches

Top Wall Thickness – 18 1/8 Inches

Bottom Wall Thickness 66 Inches

Lining is the Entire Height above the Foundation

Weight above Foundation – 18,500 Tons

The specified requirements for this chimney were that the wind pressure should be figured at 33 1/3 lbs. per square foot projected area, the weight of brickwork should be figured at 116 lbs. per square foot, the maximum allowable load to be taken at 291 lbs. per square inch. And no tension allowed in any section of the chimney. The maximum inside temperature should be figured at 600 degrees F. and the chimney and lining constructed to be resistant to acid fumes or gases. It was further required that the chimney be so designed that a possible future 60-foot extension would not increase the maximum load above 305 lbs. per square inch.

At 350 degrees F. average temperature, the theoretical draft is 2.42 inches of water at the dampers and the capacity of the chimney is 2,480,000 cubic feet of gas per minute. The total height is made up of 46 feet of brick base, octagon in section, and 460 feet of brick column, round in section.

Calculations were based on the theory that a chimney within the elastic limits of the materials acts as a cantilever beam. At any horizontal section the dead weight of the superimposed brickwork creates a uniform loading. When a wind of a given velocity blows against the chimney, it exerts a force which tends to push the shaft over the direction of the wind. This increases the intensity of the dead weight pressure on the lee side and decreases it on the windward side. Consequently, when the wind pressure offsets the dead weights, the brick work is put into tension. This chimney is designed that when the wind exerts a force of 33 1/3 lbs. per square foot, no tension exists at any point nor does the comprehensive stress on the lee side exceed 291 lbs. per square inch.

*The Big Stack, by J. E. Umphress, unknown date, taken before 1957. [2002.094.0006A]*

These calculations resulted in a chimney made up of an octagonal radial brick base 46 feet high above the surrounding grade and 460 feet of round radial brick column. The base consists of four sections varying from 66 inches to 60 inches in wall thickness. The round column consists of 19 sections varying from 54 inches to 12 1/8 inches in wall thickness. The walls are made up of multiple courses of brick varying in length so combined that all vertical joints are broken to secure a strongly bonded wall. The bricks are laid in a mortar composed of cement, lime, and sand.

The top 100 ft. of the chimney is pointed on the outside with acid proof mortar. The extreme top is surmounted by a terre-cotta cap laid in acid proof mortar. The acid proof mortar used was a mixture of ground quartz, shredded asbestos and silicate of soda, air drying.

Throughout the entire height of the chimney, it is lined with perforated radial brick. The lining is built in sections supported on corbels projecting from the main walls of the chimney. The lining is 4 inches thick. The supporting corbels are protected with special corbel blocks which permit the lining to expand horizontally and vertically. The space between the lining and the outside wall at the corbels is packed with rock wool, between the corbels this space remains empty thus relying on the insulating value of a dead air space only. The lining is laid in acid proof cement throughout.

As there was a suitable deposit of shale at the site, a brick plant was built by the chimney contactor and all radial brick made on the job. On completion of the chimney this plant was taken over by the owners and operated for their own requirements. The bricks were hauled to the chimney by rail and unloaded. A tower scaffold was carried up on the inside of the chimney. This carried the working platform and also the elevator hoists.

*The Anaconda Copper Mining Company and Big Stack next to the Missouri River and Black Eagle Dam, unknown date (taken between 1920 and 1954). [1982.017.0117]*

The lightening rod consists of 16 points, spaced around the periphery of the top, an encircling band around the lowest part of the Terra-cotta cap and two down leading cables. The points are 1 inch diameter copper rods tipped with 1 ¼ inch of platinum. The encircling band is a 1 ¼ inch thick copper rod. The top 50 ft. of the system is sheathed with 1/8-inch lead to protect it from the gases. Copper plates 3-foot square are buried in moist soil from the grounds.

There is an outside ladder from the base to the cap. It consists of ¾ inch round rungs, 12 inches wide built into the brickwork. At every second rung there is a guard of 1 1/8-inch diameter round iron forming a safety cage around the ladder. The rungs and guards for a distance of 100 ft. below the cap are covered in lead.

The bottom of the chimney has been constructed to slope to the center where a 6-inch vitrified drain has been installed to carry off any water collected. The floor consists of 6 inches of concrete covered with a heavy coat of tar, on this has been placed a 4-inch layer of sand on which a course of radial brick 6 inches thick is laid in acid proof mortar. A lead screen has been put in the drain as the dust collecting inside the chimney is very corrosive.

The foundation consists of mass concrete extending 22 ft 6 inches below grade. It rests on good shale. As a large quantity of water runs down the side so the chimney during rains, a drainage gutter has been built around the top of the foundation. A drain line carries away collections of water which might otherwise under-wash the foundation. The foundation contains approximately 9,500 tons of concrete. The chimney has four flue openings at 90 degrees to each other. They are 15 ft. wide and 36 ft. high.

*The Big Stack in the distance, unknown date. [2010.043.0004]*

-Megan Sanford, Archives Administrator

A Beacon Upon the Horizon: The Black Eagle Big Stack

The History Museum

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A Beacon Upon the Horizon: The Black Eagle Big Stack

Child Artisans at the Fort Shaw Indian School 1892-1910

The Electric City Speedway

The History Museum

Cascade County Historical Society

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