Sheridan, a small community about 55 miles south of Butte in the Ruby Valley, grew after people who had come to Virginia City seeking gold and riches turned to other pursuits when many of those hopes failed to materialize. Agriculture, timber, and mining for minerals other than gold developed in the area, and the first lumber mill there was built in 1863 to meet the needs of underground mines and the emerging community. In 1866 a post office was established, and the hamlet was named for General Phillip Henry Sheridan, a prominent and popular Civil War general affectionately called "Little Phil," by miners who had traveled north and west after the war. The town became a supply center for miners, loggers, ranchers, and people traveling westward in search of a new and better life, and it was incorporated in 1893.