In June 1859, Captain John Mullan set out with 100 men. The United States government wanted a military road built through some of the wildest, untamed country in the West. Mullan led the effort to build a road connecting Walla Walla, Washington, to Fort Benton, Montana. Mullan and his crew hacked through dense timber and navigated steep mountain terrain, relying on the “best Indian guides” to lead them through the territory.

By December 1859, Mullan knew he would not make it to the proposed winter camp in the Bitterroot Valley. Snow had come early, and there was no forage for the pack animals. Mullan stopped the men and built Cantonment Jordan in a small valley “sheltered from the winds by friendly rims of mountains.” There was plenty of wood for fuel and building. For several days in early December, the temperature hovered at 42 degrees below zero. Many men suffered from frostbite and scurvy. One, having left in search of whiskey, returned and needed both his frostbitten feet amputated. Mullan and his men slaughtered their beef cattle and the meat stayed frozen until March.

Though their very survival seemed to be in question, Mullan continued plans to resume building in spring. He contacted local Salish Indians and arranged to buy new horses. Throughout the winter, he wrote detailed survey reports to send back to Congress. By the time the snow began melting, Mullan and his crew had ferried most of the supplies across the Clark Fork River and were prepared to continue their herculean building efforts. The Mullan Road, 624 miles from start to finish, was completed by August 1860.

Of the workers who courageously labored to build the road, Mullan wrote: “Justice cannot be done to the industry and fortitude of the men while mastering this wilderness.” Their legacy long outlived them; the Mullan Road provided a route for first the homesteaders, then the Yellowstone Trail, then the railroads, and finally for the modern highway and interstate system.

Credits and Sources:

Hahn, Margie E. Montana’s Mineral County in Retrospect.Stevensville, MT: Stoneydale Press Publishing Company, 1997.

Mineral County Historical Society. Mineral County History.Superior, MT: Mineral County Historical Society, 2004.

Mullan, Captain John. Construction of a Military Road from Fort Walla Walla to Fort Benton.Washington, DC: Government Printing Press, 1863.

Historic portrait of Captain John Mullan courtesy of the Mineral County Historical Museum, Superior, MT.

Contemporary photograph of the Mullan Statue in St. Regis courtesy of Historical Research Associates, Inc.