While his brother headed to St. Louis, James Hamill chose a different path—one that would take him to "the richest hill on Earth" and the copper smelting operations of Anaconda, Montana. Born September 12, 1873, in the townland of Dian, Donaghmoyne parish, County Monaghan, James was the son of a farmer who had weathered the Great Famine and held onto his land through decades of upheaval. This documentary biography traces his journey from rural Ireland to Montana's copper country, where he raised a family of teachers and worked until age 77.

Part of the Storyline Genealogy series: Documentary Biographies From Research to Story