Dillon History Days

At noon on Saturday, July 4, 2026, three things happened at once in downtown Dillon. The Fourth of July parade moved through the streets. The Declaration of Independence was read aloud at the corner of Center Street and Idaho Street. On the same corner the singer-songwriter contest went on, with tickets at $3 apiece or $20 for a book of ten and the proceeds going to Dillon.

Those songs had been started the day before. At noon on Friday, July 3, each entrant drew a song title and had 24 hours to write a Western or cowboy-themed song around it. First, second and third place took buckles.

This was Dillon Days, run in 2026 by the Dillon Montana Community Foundation, which describes itself as “a community resource that advocates producing fun events to promote Dillon.” The 2026 edition ran July 3 to 5 and appeared on the national America250 calendar. Afterward the foundation thanked everyone who “helped celebrate Dillon Days and America’s 250th Anniversary.” A grant from the Montana Department of Commerce paid to promote it.

Three days, from the “M” to Jaycee Park

Friday began at 8:30 a.m. with a community hike to the Dillon “M,” which the foundation calls one of the town’s most recognizable landmarks. The Beaverhead Trails Coalition listed the hike as well. At 3 p.m. classic and collector cars gathered for the Horsepower Round Up and Auto Festival at the Frontier Event Center on East Helena Street. At 6 the same hall showed “The Spirit of America,” a free 50-minute large-screen tribute to 9-11. A concert followed at 7, with tickets $10 to $15 at the door.

On Saturday vendors filled the sidewalks at 10 a.m., selling clothes, toys, woodwork and more. Cribbage players signed in at 11 at the Beaverhead Senior Center on South Montana Street and played at noon. In the afternoon rubber ducks raced down Blacktail Creek behind Depot Park. Duck tickets were sold at Womack’s Printing Place, the Mossy Possum, The Cottage and The 3-D. The Dillon Seventh-Day Adventist Church put on activities for children.

The Blowin’ Smoke Barbecue Cook Off ran across Friday and Saturday. Teams cooked chicken, pork, pork ribs and beef brisket, and total points decided a grand and a reserve champion. Judging fell on Saturday. Teams could sell samples Friday at 5 p.m. and Saturday at 11 a.m. The foundation later called the 2026 contest “our best Blowin’ Smoke Cook Off yet.”

Sunday closed with Church in the Park at 10 a.m. at Jaycee Park on East Sebree Street. The program promised live music, an uplifting message, a free lunch and a game.

A committee and a tourism grant

The celebration began under another name. On February 19, 2020, Southwestern Montana News reported a planning meeting of the Dillon Community Affairs Committee. The committee was a citizens’ group whose mission was to serve the city “by promoting community involvement.” Its members then were Russ Schwandt, Bill Shafer, Raymond Graham, Stacey Roundy, Candi Whitworth, Debbie Sporich, Stan Smith, Mitch Staley and Brenda Womack. The meeting centered on a tourism grant for a new event, Dillon History Days, with activities “based off the history of Dillon’s beginnings.”

The plan called for a first annual History Days on July 24 through 26, held downtown and on the outskirts of Dillon. It would offer tours of historical buildings and houses and demonstrations of old agricultural, mining and logging artifacts. Members talked about reviving the old-time basketball and baseball games that local organizations had held in the past. The committee asked residents to bring their ideas to its next meeting, March 4 at noon in the city council chambers.

Rodeo, bull riding and the founders’ hour

On July 24, 2021, the same news site reported downtown “hustling and bustling,” with vendors in the streets and stores running Crazy Days sales “from years past.” The barbecue cook-off was underway. Brian D’Ambrosio, author of Montana Murders, was at The Bookstore, and the Beaverhead County Museum gave tours. The Territory Days Rodeo opened at 6 that evening, and at 9 Macs Last Cast held a street concert with Levi Blom.

The Sunday schedule that year ran as follows:

• 9 a.m. and 1 p.m.: Senior Rodeo Association events
• 10 a.m.: worship at Jaycee Park
• 11 a.m.: cook-off judging
• Noon: a community picnic with old-fashioned games
• 1 p.m.: an awards ceremony and recognition of the founders

The City of Dillon listed History Days for July 21 to 23, 2023. The Southwest Montana travel guide used the same description for July 27 and 28, 2024. Both offered tours of historic buildings and houses and living history drawn from railroad, agriculture, mining and logging, and both encouraged visitors to come in vintage clothing. The featured attractions were:

• mechanical bull riding
• a barbecue cook-off and a Dutch oven cook-off
• old-fashioned baseball
• a horseshoe tournament
• a ranch rodeo
• cowboy poetry

Bannack State Park parked visitors at the Beaverhead County Fairgrounds in Dillon and ran a free shuttle between the fairgrounds and Bannack. The Montana Standard gave different dates for 2024, July 26 to 28, and called it the fifth annual “Dillon Days (Dillon History Days).”

Two names from the 2020 roster

In November 2025 the Dillon Jaycees honored two of the 2020 committee members at their annual banquet. The article on the banquet credits the committee with organizing History Days each July. The 2026 program, under the name Dillon Days, came from the foundation.

Russ Schwandt, a founding member of the committee, received the Distinguished Service Award, and friends have called him “one of Dillon’s best friends.” With the Friends of Jaycee Park he maintains the splash pad, cleans the restrooms and empties the garbage so the park is ready for the Farmers Market and Sunday church services. He has served three terms on the city council and now presides as council president.

Debbie Sporich, who helps plan History Days, was named Outstanding Woman and described as the “definition of Dillon.” She has owned The Bookstore in downtown Dillon for more than three decades. It was her shop that hosted Brian D’Ambrosio during the 2021 History Days.