DescriptionJohn Mullan commented on the Little Blackfoot Valley’s fertile soil while surveying the valley for the Isaac I. Stevens railroad survey in the early 1850s, but as the Avon Get Together Club put it: “It was not [Mullan’s] report of good soil . . . that attracted settlers to the area, but . . . the magic cry of ‘Gold!’” Gold discoveries in Ophir, Snowshoe, and Washington gulches brought a flood of miners to the area between 1865 and 1866. As the inevitable cycle of boom and bust played out, homesteaders began arriving in the valley. Among them was Bill Cramer, a member of the advance survey crew for the Northern Pacific Railroad who had been smitten by the Little Blackfoot Valley when he passed through the area in 1882. Cramer returned to the valley in 1884 and started the settlement of Avon, serving as the town’s first postmaster. The first train over the Continental Divide brought 4 barrels of whiskey and Cramer’s wife—a celebratory beginning for the new town. Avon became a supply and shipping point for ranchers, homesteaders, and miners. Elevation: 4,692 ft. Location: Powell CountyPersonal NamesMullan, JohnCramer, BillContributing InstitutionMontana Historical Society Library and ArchivesGeolocation[1] Elevation4692 ft.CountyPowell County
