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Montana's bar eternal captured in new book – Daily Montanan

['Darrell Ehrlick', 'More From Author', '- January']

Date: 2022-01-31 00:00:00

If Montana ever had a statewide bar, it had to be the M&M in Butte.

It proudly didn’t have locks on the door because it served thirsty and hungry miners regardless of time of day. Known for its omelets, hot meals, cold beer and characters, it became just another tragedy in 2021, not because of a pandemic, but fire.

However, Butte author and historian Jacob Sorich has memorialized the most famous bar in the Treasure State in his new book, “The Unforgettable M&M: The Wild History and True Story of Butte, Montana’s Nationally-known 131-year-old Saloon.”

While owner Selina Pankovich has vowed to rebuild the iconic uptown watering hole, until that happens, Sorich’s book will serve as a reminder of the indelible impact the bar had as a place where Prohibition never really took hold and miners could drink with leaders – a living history of the wild, rough and independent spirit of a state that seemed to match so well with the characters who lived within its boundaries.

The 123-page book is a mix of recollections, a chronicle of characters and an account of so many tragic and wonderful moments at the bar from a despondent barkeeper who decided to end his life with an overdose of morphine to presidential hopeful Barack Obama making friends on the road to the White House.

“The Unforgettable M&M” Author: Jacob Sorich

Publisher: Old Butte Publishing

Format: Softcover, $24.95, 123-pages, color

Sorich said that when the iconic bar burned, the whole community – indeed, the entire state – seemed to be in mourning for Montana’s watering hole. He thought that collecting all the memories together would help show support to rebuild the bar which had been reduced to rubble.

The book is part history, part story, part lore.

“When we talked with people, they shared what they remembered and what was special to them, whether it was true to the best that they can remember it,” Sorich said. “This is a love letter to the place they love.”

Even though Sorich grew up around the iconic bar, even he didn’t realize impact it had on others.

“I was surprised how crucial the M&M was to the people’s lives,” Sorich said.

Miners and residents went there to get paychecks cashed or a hot meal or to purchase a gift. During the Prohibition period, the bar emphasized that it was a cigar shop and took out ads in the local papers for the outdoor gear it offered for sale. Frequently, fishing poles or camping gear were advertised – what wasn’t put into print was that it remained a place to pick up those items while also grabbing a beer or a drink.

“This wasn’t just a place that people went to get a drink, it was more of a community center and a place where everybody could be treated as equals,” Sorich said.

Several different times during the M&M’s history, it looked like the bar might disappear, including closing in the 1990s, but it survived.

And the M&M’s high holy day was St. Patrick’s Day, a March celebration in Butte that attracts thousands for a parade and to honor the Irish immigrants who toiled in the mines. It was the M&M that first dyed its beer green as a tribute and then added corned beef and cabbage.

Sorich said the M&M wasn’t always the community gathering place it has been. Instead, like many Butte bars during the halcyon days of mining, it was a rough joint, known for gamblers, booze, drugs and even violence. Sorich’s book chronicles many of the infamous incidents that drew the attention of the press.

Between the period of 1890 and 1915, there was hardly a week that passed without another news item of sensational interest.

“Every month there was something – someone was getting robbed or even the owners were kidnapped,” Sorich said.

That helped grow the legend of the bar and the state’s biggest mining city.

“And not all owners then were above board,” Sorich said.

He said that he hopes when and if the M&M is rebuilt that it will still keep the original dimensions, but not be exactly the same. He hopes the basement is better utilized, and that whatever happens, the actual bar is not new. Sorich said part of the charm of the old, burned M&M was the bar that was marked with nicks and scratches from other patrons.

And as much as the M&M was known as a bar, it was also known for its bar food, like the “garbage omelet,” and the gravy-laden “wet fries.”

The author and Butte resident hopes the book will help inspire the community to rebuild and bring back the landmark that means so much to the state.

“I saw it coming down,” Sorich said. “I stopped. I had a moment. It hit me heavy. Then, I imagined how the people who were much closer to it felt. It was the kind of place that you were invested in – the kind that needed your story.”

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