Submitted by scott on
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Amazon was a mining town that got its start in the 1880's. Silver was discovered in the area in 1872 and by 1883 a concentrator was located here. The railroad tunnel, constructed by the Montana Central Railway (part of the Great Northern), was cut by 1888 (the first train passed through on October 25, 1888), connecting Amazon to the smelters at Wickes and East Helena. However, the mining slowed considerably at Amazon by the late-1880's and did not pick up again until about 1903. By 1953, all the mines in the area were closed. A post office briefly opened at Amazon in 1888 (January 26) with John Curran as postmaster. It closed the same year (July 1888) and did not open again until 1908 (January 24). Osa Foster served as postmaster. In 1915 (September 30) the Amazon post office closed for nearly a year; it reopened in 1916 (August 7) with Osa Foster as postmaster once again. By 1931, due to the intermittent operation of the local mines, Amazon had lost most of its residents and the post office was closed for good on August 5.

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