Dillon, Montana is such a cool little town. Founded in 1880, it was originally called Terminus because it was, at least temporarily, the end of the line for the Utah and Northern Railway. The following year the town was renamed Dillon in honor of Sydney Dillon, the president of the Union Pacific Railroad. Located in the Beaverhead Valley, Dillon was a nice, central location to bring the train through to supply the nearby mining towns of Bannack, Virginia City, Nevada City and others. While the railroad was the impetus for Dillon’s founding, soon cattle and sheep ranches began to sprout up around town, shoring up the economy. As it grew, Dillon would become the county seat of Beaverhead County and build a gorgeous courthouse in the middle of town. In 1892, the Montana Normal College was founded in Dillon, which operates today as the University of Montana Western. Perhaps my favorite fact about Dillon is that it is the final resting place of Pit the Elephant which was struck and killed by lightning in 1943 at the fairgrounds. Too big to move, she was buried where she fell and the town continues to maintain her grave today. Dillon is a lovely little town with some great museums and plenty of bars and restaurants to explore and I really enjoyed my time there. I hope you enjoy these photos of Dillon, Beaverhead County’s classic rail town.
Hello Everyone,
I’ve got good news and bad news to start off this week. The bad news is that Shadow Catcher is still in the shop in Missoula, waiting on parts. My new axle housing has made its way all the way from Florida to Indiana where it is currently being rebuilt. They should be putting it on the road to Montana by Friday with it arriving early next week. Once it’s here, it should only take a day or so to get it on and to put everything back together again. I will likely be writing this post from Missoula again next week, making it three weeks since we pulled into town, but I will hopefully be on my way soon thereafter. The good news is that the shop has loaned me a truck in the interim, so I have packed up my camping gear and hit the road in it. I’m very grateful to them for the loaner as it has allowed me to get out and do some exploring this week. It’s not the easiest way to travel, but it sure beats sitting around on my hands in Missoula. I think if I had three weeks to sit there and stew, it would be hard to bounce back from. This week has taken me south through the Bitterroot Valley, across the Big Hole and the Bozeman Trail and is winding up here in Butte, where I am writing to you from today. The weather has been great and I’ve definitely been enjoying myself despite the difficulties of being out here without my van and the stresses involved with that.
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After finishing up this post last week, I went out and enjoyed a wonderful night of music with a songwriters’ round at the Zootown Arts Community Center there in Missoula. This event brought together four unique songwriters from around Montana who took turns sharing their songs and the stories behind them. It was the first event of the newly formed Montana Songwriters Collective and it was really enjoyable. After the show, I went down and had a burger at the Missoula Club and then headed back across the river for the night.
