Rancher D.S Dewey is honored as this town’s namesake after building the first cabin in the area during the late 1800s. Although the lumber industry initially attracted new settlers to the community, a quartz lode was later discovered. The subsequent mining boom drastically increased the town’s population with peak activity occurring between 1877 and 1895. Today, Dewey is simply a mining ghost town whose location near the Big Hole River attracts area fisherman.