US Forest Service

About forestry service, 59211, Antelope, MT, US, Montana

Dillon is a city in and the county seat of Beaverhead County, Montana, United States. The population was 3,880 at the 2020 census. The city was named for Sidney Dillon (1812–1892), president of Union Pacific Railroad. == History == Dillon was founded in the Beaverhead Valley as a railroad town in 1880. Originally named “Terminus” as it was temporarily the northernmost stop on the Utah and Northern Railway while it was under construction, in 1881, the community was renamed for Union Pacific Railroad President Sidney Dillon, who had directed the project of bringing the railroad through to Butte, Montana. The town's location was selected by the railroad in part because of its proximity to gold mines in the area. The first ore discovered in the Dillon area was silver. Gold was first discovered at Grasshopper Creek in 1862, precipitating a flood of immigration to the area. The last real gold rush in the area occurred near Argenta in 1920 and lasted for 30 years. Dillon served as a central location for transporting goods to nearby boomtowns such as Bannack, Argenta, Glen, and Virginia City.