With restrictions placed on the management of the 1894 Pastime team, it was decided to withdraw from the Pastime Athletic Club.  The group reorganized as the Butte Football Club and DeGay Stivers was elected Manager for the 1895 year.  Francis Brooks captain, Morris A. Davis treasurer, and Jim Hooper coach.  Butte recruited some of the best players available including Jim Hooper (Michigan 1893), George King (University of California 1891-92), Donald Gillis (Michigan 1891-92), Francis Brooks (Cambridge 1892), Morris Davis (Illinois) and Charles Blackburn (Ogden Military Academy).
 
The opening game of the 1895 spring session against Spokane was the hardest hitting game played with several new players on the team.  Ellis, Weiss and Richards proved invaluable.
 
The young men from Salt Lake were shown the advantage of training and conditioning as they were run ragged by the Butte squad in the week two game.  The trophy banners and $50 gold medal put up as a trophy by buisnessman Joe Klaffki was safely remaining in Butte.  Umpire of the game was Mr. Lyon, former VP of the Seattle Athletic Club.  The Buttes and 4,000 followers, got their return game with Omaha YMCA and revenge for the disastrous physical beating they took the previous year in a 46-4 loss as the Pastime Club.  With that win, the Butte squad sent out letters to all challengers that they held the "championship" of the West and dared anyone from Tacoma, Portland, Denver, Seattle or San Francisco to come take it.  Not to be outdone by Joe Klaffki, J.H. Leyson, Butte watchmaker and jeweler, put a Gold Medal on the line in the challenge to the Multnomah Club Winged M's.  The Butte's showed their power in an 18-6 win over the monsters from Portland. 

*** $250 Gold Medal furnished by J.H. Leyson:

Description: The emblem is surmounted by two heavy gold bars which bear the names of the opposing teams in large raised letters. Underneath is a large eagle to which the pendant is attached by substantial gold chains. The pendant is circular in form and about 2 inches in diameter, and is exceedingly rich and handsome. Two figures are shown struggling for the ball on a field of green gold, and the positions are wonderfully lifelike. One of the players is tackling the other and the play has much the appearance of Donald Gillis tackling Long-Haired Wilie Gardner of Omaha.  A bright gold fence appears against the background, which is of red gold. The pendant is surrounded by a wreath of victory, and is finished off with neat scroll work underneath.

The legendary Glenn "Pop" Warner played against the Buttes and lost his shirt along with the $80 wager he placed on his Iowa team coming away victorious in 1895.  He met his match in Big Jim Hooper as the two squared off in the trenches.

Butte made a name for itself going 12-3 with Reliance of California being their biggest nemesis of the 1895 season as they laid claim to the Best football team in the Northwest region.

George W. McMillan played so well for Reliance during the Butte battles of 1895, Charles Clark made a point of acquiring his services and for the 1896 and 1897 seasons played and served as a manager before building the Anaconda team until July 3, 1898 when he retunred to Portland where he became known as the "football king" as a member of the Multnomah Winged M's from 1898 to 1908.
 
The "second-season" of the fall and winter they did just that with games against some of the best in the country.  Reliance, Olympic, Seattle and college teams from Iowa, Portland and Nebraska. 
 
15 players traveled to San Francisco for the Christmas battle with the Olympics.  Following the games with the Olympics, a feud simmered as to charges of "professionalism"  because of two players on the Butte squad (Hall and Laswell).  The Pacific Northwest Amatuer Association, siding with the Olympic Club was withholding gate proceeds from the New Years Day game.  Butte threatened to sue.  Olympic later pulled out of the Amateur Association almost killing its ability to play football since the big universities would not play a "professional" team.  Butte would get it's amatuer status reinstated by the PAA, but not until the Vancouver game was canceled and the team returned to Butte.  Billy Laswell, having showed his skills as a player for Multnomah in the 1895 game and one of the fastest players in the region, was recruited away to the "Copper Kings" and  was named the top player in the Northwest Region as a fullback, punter, and kicker.  He would play the 1897 season, but eventually came down with pneumonia in 1900 and died at the age of 27 as did fellow teammate Henry Brahm that same year.
 
Following the 1896 season it was discussed to no longer play football all year 'round and instead focus on a fall/winter campaign.
 
Millionaire Charles Clark pulled his funding after bankrolling the 1894 and 1895 seasons as well as providing well paying jobs in the mines for such stars as George McMillian (Reliant), Big Jim Hooper and George Dygert of Michigan.  This led to difficulty securing the guarantee funds needed to bring quality teams to Butte and some schedule changes due to "political issues of the day".  Those issues came mainly in the form of "militia men" and "scabs" associated with recent mining strikes.  Union men were also barred as beliefs that "retributions" could mar the games.  Teams rostering those men were not welcome in Butte and was a prime reason for not playing Leadville, Colorado.  The Leadville incident involved the killing of a firefighter trying to extinguish a mine fire started by union strikers.
 
Also at odds for the Butte squad, was a stripping of their amateur status which was finally reinstated in October of 1897.  The "stripping" Butte claimed, was the Pacific Amateur Association flexing as it refused to pay Butte it's portion ($455) from the January games with Olympic Club of San Francisco, where the PAA is based. This also led to a scaled back 3-game season in 1897, but fueled the 1898 Anaconda feud and subsequent battles.  The opening of the Butte Business College and formation of the football team in 1897 had coach Percy Benson pulling double-duty as coach for both teams in helping get the squad off the ground.
 
1899 saw enough numbers for two teams to be formed in Butte, so Jim Hooper and Percy Benson each formed a team.  These were some of the heaviest teams ever put together and injuries took a huge toll.  The final game was to pit the Hoopers and Bensons against one another with fill-ins from Anaconda, however weather and the financial failings of the season made for a decision to disband.  High School and Collegiate football were starting to take off and the crowds and interest of old were waning.

D. McKinnon, starting left end for the 1898 team would make his way to the Spokane Athletic Club for the 1900 season. 
 
In June of 1931, Pete Snelson wrote an in depth historical retrospective of the beginnings of the Butte "Big Teams" starting in 1893 with interviews of former players, coaches, businessmen and included rosters, game summaries, and stories.  The first expose was published in the Great Falls Tribune on June 7, 1931 and was followed up with June 14 and June 21 articles.  Photographs and much more were included and used to help put this historical archive together.  Mr. Snelson passed away in 1946 at the age of 68, but it was through his writing the story of the Butte teams, that those details were not lost forever.  We need more Pete Snelson's.

George McMillan, former halback and manager in 1896 went on to a long career in Portland and was inducted into the GNFA Hall of Fame in 2011.

"Big" Jim Hooper was elected to the GNFA Hall of Fame in 2018.

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