About Dillon, Montana: It was founded in the Beaverhead Valley as a railroad town in 1880 by Union Pacific Railroad President Sidney Dillon. The town's location was selected by the railroad because of its proximity to gold mines in the area.
The first ore discovered was silver. Gold was first discovered at Grasshopper Creek in 1862.
Dillon served as a central location for transporting goods to nearby boomtowns such as Bannack, Argenta, Glen, and Virginia City.
Dillon was able to stay a thriving town due to the railroad and talc mining in the area. A cattle industry was established in 1865. The agriculturally rich Beaverhead Valley became an ideal location for sheep ranching that was introduced in 1869. Dillon was once the largest exporter of sheep wool in Montana.
The Montana Normal College (University of Montana Western) was established as a teaching college in 1892, and is still functioning today, renowned for its Education program. A circus elephant named Old Pitt was struck by lightning in 1943 and is buried at the Dillon fairgrounds. Cpt Joel Rude of the Montana National Guard crashed his F-106 into a grain elevator and died during a Labor Day Parade on September 3, 1979. A plaque in his honor is part of the Southwest Montana Veterans Memorial park in Dillon. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dillon,_Montana