In 1864 when the First Legislative Session was held here, Bannack was named the County Seat of
Beaverhead County. In 1875 this impressive brick building was built as the first Beaverhead
County Courthouse, but by 1881 the gold rush to Montana was history. Stock raising and agriculture
were displacing mining as the main industries in Beaverhead County. Bannack was evolving into a
humdrum settlement. Dillon, twenty-five miles to the east, on the other hand, was emerging as a
bustling metropolis of about 800 people. The Utah and Northern Railroad had established a terminus
in Dillon and it was evolving into a flourishing freighting center.