Melrose, Montana, once known as "Camp Creek", had its early beginnings as a tiny stage stop along the Big Hole River that would eventually become a terminus for the railroad, a shipping and receiving point for the Hecla Consolidated Mining Company and Bryant Mining District, consisting of Hecla, Lion City, Greenwood, Norwood, and Glendale. The area along the Big Hole River was settled as early as 1870, three families shared the valley, Jefferson McCauley, John Stone and William Bowe.