Eddie & George Wake Up in Dillon, Montana

Today, Eddie and George woke up in a new place.  No, it wasn't a national park.  It's Dillon, Montana, located in Southwest Montana, almost due west of the north entrance of Yellowstone Park.  Dillon is the county seat of Beaverhead County and has a thriving population of over 4,000 people.  It occupies the humongous geographical area of 1.76 square miles.

Here are the two boys sitting by the fire ring, enjoying their morning coffee, the Big Sky, and the beautiful Pioneer Mountains in the background.  Let's listen in:

Eddie:  What a place to wake up, George!  I can't wait to go fishing.  The Beaverhead River, right nearby, is a blue ribbon fly fishing river.

George:  My fly rod quivers at the thought!

The boys ambled over to the Sawmill Saloon and hitched a ride on a mountain goat:

They even found the grave of poor Les Mor.  Read his epitaph for more elucidation:

This was a perfect time for Eddie to bring up the subject of the history of Dillon.

Eddie: George, just think of it, we're in DILLON, the town named after Matt Dillon, that famous sheriff of Dodge City, Kansas.

George:  Eddie, that's all wrong.  Matt Dillon was a fictional character on the TV show Gunsmoke.  The real history of Dillon is a lot more mundane.  The town was named after Sidney Dillon, the president of the Union Pacific Railroad.  Here's a photo of how it looked in 1880:

Eddie:  Sort of like other towns in the Wild West.

George:  You got it, Eddie.  Dillon was at the terminus of a rail line that supplied the famous nearby gold mining towns of Virginia City and Nevada City.  In April 2010, Dillon earned the distinction of being named one of "America's Prettiest Towns" by Forbes Magazine.

Well, the campground is certainly pretty.  Here are Eddie and George hanging out in a prairie schooner that is right-sized for them and is festooned with all sorts of flowers:

Eddie and George have convinced us this will be a wonderful week.  No national park traffic.  No national park crowds.  Plenty of fishing.  Pretty towns.  Western flavor.  Gold mining ghost town history.  Stay tuned!