John Mullan (road builder)

John Mullan, Jr. (July 31, 1830 – December 28, 1909) was an American soldier, explorer, civil servant, and road builder. After graduating from the United States Military Academy in 1852, he joined the Northern Pacific Railroad Survey, led by Isaac Stevens. He extensively explored western Montana and portions of southeastern Idaho, discovered Mullan Pass, and led the construction crew which built the Mullan Road in Montana, Idaho, and Washington state between the spring of 1859 and summer 1860.

Early life
Mullan was born in Norfolk, Virginia, on July 31, 1830, to John and Mary ( Bright) Mullan. He was the oldest son of what would eventually be 11 children. The Mullans moved to Annapolis, Maryland in 1833. John Sr. had enlisted in the United States Army in 1823, and about the time of John Jr.'s birth was an ordnance sergeant.

John Jr. began attending school in 1839. Despite the financial burden of raising so many children, the Mullans were able to finance secondary and higher education for John. He attended St. John's College in Annapolis, where he studied Greek, Latin, history, mathematics, philosophy, art, rhetoric, navigation, surveying, chemistry, and geology, among other subjects. Mullan graduated from St. John's in 1847 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He was just 16 years old.

In 1845, Secretary of War William L. Marcy transferred the Army post of Fort Severn (which guarded the entrance to Annapolis harbor) to the United States Navy, which converted the fort into the United States Naval Academy. At Marcy's request, John Mullan, Sr. was assigned to the Navy (he formally joined the Navy in 1855 at the age of 54), and spent the rest of his career doing light general repair and cleaning at the Naval Academy.

West Point
Probably due to his father's lengthy career in the Army, John Mullan, Jr. sought admission to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. The Mullan family were Democrats, and John Sr. had briefly served as an alderman on the Annapolis city council. This made the Mullans extremely well-connected politically, and several respected citizens of Annapolis (including St. John's president Hector Humphreys) wrote John Jr. glowing letters of recommendation. The entire Democratic delegation in the Maryland General Assembly petitioned President James K. Polk to admit him.

In 1848, Mullan traveled to the White House in Washington, D.C., and asked Polk for an appointment to West Point. Sizing up the diminutive but muscular Mullan, Polk reportedly asked, "Well, don't you think you are rather small to want to be a soldier?" Mullan replied, "I may be somewhat small, sir, but can't a small man be a soldier as well as a tall one?" Polk, bemused by Mullan's audacity, gave him the appointment.

About 70 percent of classroom time at West Point was spent on three subjects: engineering, mathematics, and science. West Point was then the nation's preeminent engineering school, and Mullan studied under Dennis Hart Mahan, the nation's leading civil engineer. Mullan's was one of the first classes of cadets to learn how to navigate using a compass and odometer. Few cadets engaged in extracurricular reading at the West Point library, but Mullan checked out large quantities of books, many of them dealing with the newly acquired western United States. He graduated in 1852, 15th in a class of 43. Among Mullan's classmates were future generals such as George Crook, George B. McClellan, and Phil Sheridan.

Mullan was commissioned a brevet 2d Lieutenant in the United States Army after graduating from West Point. On July 1, he was assigned to Fort Columbus on Governors Island in New York Harbor.

On November 4, 1852, Mullan left New York City aboard a steamship, traversed the Isthmus of Nicaragua, and arrived in San Francisco, California on December 1, 1852, where he was assigned to the 1st Artillery Regiment.

Preparations for the survey
On February 10, 1853, outgoing President Millard Fillmore signed legislation creating the Washington Territory. On March 17, newly inaugurated President Franklin Pierce appointed one of his supporters, Isaac Stevens, to be Territorial Governor of Washington Territory. The Senate confirmed the appointment the same day. Stevens knew that on March 3, 1853, Congress had appropriated $150,000 ($0 in 2024 dollars) to survey railroad routes across the Pacific Northwest. Secretary of War Jefferson Davis was eager to complete the surveys, which he believed would show a northern route to be impossible. This would force Congress to survey and fund the construction of a southern route, which in turn would lead to rapid development of the area and the creation of new slave-holding states (as permitted under the Missouri Compromise). Davis was determined to move as swiftly as possible on the surveys, and on March 25, 1853, appointed Stevens to lead the survey project.

The Stevens survey was the first transcontinental survey of the western United States since the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804-1806, and considered very important by the United States government. Stevens largely had his pick of men for the survey project, and chose a wide range of common soldiers, laborers, topographers, engineers, doctors, naturalists, astronomers, geologists, and meteorologists. Private Gustav Sohon also served with the group. Captain John W.T. Gardiner of the 1st Dragoons (cavalry) was appointed the chief officer of the group. Mullan was assigned to the Stevens survey party as a topographical engineer. That Mullan, only recently arrived in San Francisco, would be ordered to join the Stevens survey is not unusual, as members of the team were drawn from all over the United States. Concurrent with his assignment to the Stevens survey, Mullan was assigned to the 2nd Artillery Regiment.

Mullan traveled east to the town of St. Louis, a booming town in the state of Missouri. Mullan met there with Stevens, Capt. Gardiner, and Lieutenant Andrew J. Donelson, Jr., of the Army Corps of Engineers. Stevens, who arrived in St. Louis on May 15, 1853, met Mullan and instructed Donelson to take a party to Fort Union (at the confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers near what is now the North Dakota/Montana border about 25 mi from Williston, North Dakota) and establish a supply depot there.

Fort Union and Fort Benton
Donelson booked passage on the steamboat Robert Campbell for the trip. He and Mullan had interior cabins (which cost $100 each, or $0 in 2024 dollars), while the six sappers slept on the deck (at $47 each, or $0 in 2024 dollars). The Donelson/Mullan party left St. Louis on May 21, and arrived at Fort Union on July 3. During the trip, Mullan made meteorological observations whenever the ship halted. Mullan also assisted Donelson in mapping the territory the ship passed through from St. Joseph, Missouri to Fort Union. During this trip, Mullan met his first Native Americans, members of the Eastern Dakota tribe. The Robert Campbell deposited Donelson, Mullan, and their supplies at Fort Union.

While at Fort Union, Donelson led Mullan and 11 other men on an exploration of the nearby country. Departing the fort on July 12, they traveled 42 mi up Big Muddy Creek, then proceeded due east to the White Earth River. They went down the White Earth River for 30 mi before paralleling the Missouri River for another 62 mi to reach Fort Union again.

Stevens departed St. Louis for St. Paul, a small town in the Minnesota Territory, on May 23. He and the majority of the survey party left St. Paul on May 28, and extensively mapped the region along what is now Interstate 94. They finally reached Fort Union on August 1. On August 9, the reunited survey party left Fort Union. Stevens originally intended for Donelson and Mullan to lead a party north along the Big Muddy to its headwaters (near modern Plentywood, Montana) before heading west along the border with Canada before turning south to reach Fort Benton—the highest navigable point on the Missouri River. He intended for the main body of the Stevens survey to travel slightly up the Missouri until it reached the Milk River. The main body would then follow the Milk River to a point near present-day Havre, Montana, before heading south to Fort Benton. Traveling on the north bank of the Missori, the united survey team crossed the Big Muddy on August 11. Then Stevens changed his mind, and decided the entire party should travel together along the Milk, with only small mapping parties sent off at various points to briefly explore the surrounding land. The group reached Fort Benton on September 1. During the trip, Mullan made topographic and meteorological observations.

Mission to the Salish
On September 9, Stevens sent Mullan on a peace mission to the Salish nation. Mullan was instructed to convey the peaceful intentions of the government of the United States, implore the Salish to make peace with the Piegan Blackfeet, and express the desire of the United States to build up the settlement at St. Mary's Mission. Mullan was also to obtain several guides from the Salish, and to explore any nearby passes through the Rocky Mountains. Survey party aide F.H. Burr, three local men, a hunter, and a Piegan Blackfeet guide named White Crane accompanied him.

Mullan traveled south from Fort Benton along Shonkin Creek, west of the Highwood Mountains. Skirting the Little Belt Mountains by driving southeast, he crossed Arrow Creek, passed south through the Judith Gap (the Big Snowy Mountains to the east, the Little Belts to the west), and crossed several tributaries of the Judith River. Reaching the Musselshell River, he explored along its banks up and down stream for several miles, before striking south and finally finding the Salish encampment about 70 mi south of the river. On September 18, Mullan encountered about 50 lodges of Salish and 100 lodges of Kalispel, who received him very warmly. At one point during the meeting with the Salish, Stevens found himself without his interpreter. But after realizing a few Salish spoke French, Stevens was able to converse with them (having studied French for two years at West Point). The Salish chief agreed to consider the goodwill message, and sent four of his men back with Mullan as guides to the mountain passes.

Mullan and his companions then returned to the Musselshell, where his Piegan Blackfeet guide left him. The Mullan party followed the Musselshell's north branch to the west-northwest, then continued to the Smith River. They followed the Smith through the Castle Mountains until they reached the Missouri River. The Salish guides knew the area well, and led him across the Helena Valley to Prickly Pear Creek. He crossed the Continental Divide on September 24 via "Hell Gate Pass", and descended the other side into the valley of the Little Blackfoot River. Essentially following what is today U.S. Route 12 and Interstate 90, he followed the river and its successor streams northwest to the Missoula Valley (entering near present-day Hell Gate, Montana), then proceeded south through the Bitterroot Valley to reach Fort Owen (near present-day Stevensville, Montana). There he rendezvoused with the main Stevens survey party on September 30, 1853.

Fall of 1853 exploration of the Bitterroot Valley
On October 6, 1853, Mullan traveled from Fort Owen north to the mouth of Hellgate Canyon, where he rejoined Stevens (who had moved there some days earlier). The railroad survey was now over budget and behind schedule, and Stevens still needed to take up his duties as Territorial Governor in the territorial capital of Olympia. Stevens resolved to proceed further westward, while assigning Mullan the task of mapping western Montana with the goal of determining the best route for a railroad. Mullan was also to take meteorological observations, gather data on river and stream flows, find the headwaters of the Missouri River, and gather as much statistical data on population, wildlife, timber, agriculture and geology as he could.

On October 8, Mullan left Fort Owen for a spot about 1.5 mi north-northwest of present-day Corvallis, Montana. He and 15 men set up a camp here in just seven days, erecting two barns, a corral, and four log cabins. Mullan named it Cantonment Stevens. On October 15, he and guide John Owen (owner of Fort Owen) set out to explore the southern end of the Bitterroot Valley and then proceed southward to find their way to Fort Hall (near present-day Pocatello, Idaho). But Owen lost his way after just a few days, and the two returned ignominiously to Cantonment Stevens. In November, Mullan, accompanied by five men, explored the Bitterroot River to its source, crossed the Sapphire Mountains and Anaconda Range, and explored the Big Hole River north and west to the Jefferson River. Returning to the Missoula Valley, from November 28 to December 13 he retraced his route to the Big Hole River, followed it south to its headwaters, then crossed the Beaverhead Mountains to enter modern-day Idaho. Passing south via the valley between the Beartooth Mountains and the Lemhi Range, he reached Fort Hall on December 13.

On December 19, he struck north again, retracing his path. He crossed Monida Pass, then turned east after crossing the Beaverhead Mountains, passing through a broad prairie between the Pioneer Mountains and the Ruby Range. He followed the Beaverhead River to the Jefferson River again, then explored the Gallatin Valley before turning west to the Big Hole River again. Turning north, he followed a stream until he reached a series of low ridges which divided the Big Hole tributary from the Hellgate Fork of the Bitterroot River. Crossing these, he arrived at the headwaters of the Deer Lodge River (now known as the Clark Fork River) on December 31. He followed the Deer Lodge River to the Hellgate Fork, and retraced his path back to Fort Owen, which he reached on January 10. They had traveled through heavy snows and strong winds that drove the wind chill tens of degrees below zero, crossed rivers and streams covered in thin ice (through which their horses frequently plunged), and often went hungry. They had crossed the Continental Divide four times in the dead of winter, had identified two wagon routes from Fort Hall to Fort Owen, and seen Beaverhead Rock (which, in 1805, had told the Lemhi Shoshone teenage girl guide Sacagawea that she and the Lewis & Clark Expedition were near her homeland). In 45 days, he had traveled more than 700 mi.

Blazing the Fort Benton-Mullan Pass road
In February 1854, Mullan learned from Native Americans of a much better pass between the Missoula Valley and the Helena Valley. On March 2, he left the Missoula Valley with five men, one of whom was Private Gustav Sohon. Mullan retraced his route along the Little Blackfoot River and over "Hell Gate Pass", and followed the Missouri River north to Fort Benton, which he reached on March 12. Obtaining soldiers, wagons, and supplies, he departed on March 14 and scouted out a level prairie road from Fort Benton to the confluence of the Sun and Missouri rivers (at present-day Great Falls, Montana). Rather than follow the route taken by Stevens a year earlier, he stuck to the Missouri River, which offered a flat road at least to the Dearborn River. He then decided to strike inland rather than keep to the river, and discovered a wide, flat prairie about 15 mi west of the river. This allowed him to skirt the rugged Adel Mountains Volcanic Field. He then followed the valley of Little Prickly Pear Creek back to the Missouri River. On March 21, he camped on Prickly Pear Creek in the foothills of the Lewis and Clark Range. Following Tenmile Creek and then Austin Creek, he discovered and then crossed Mullan Pass.

After taking Mullan Pass over the Continental Divide, he regained the valley of the Little Blackfoot River and reached the Missoula Valley on March 28. Although the Mullan route was 40 mi longer than the Stevens/Donelson route over Cadotte Pass discovered in 1853, Mullan Pass had a gradual ascent and descent over only lightly wooded country that made it nearly perfect for the construction of a wagon road. Mullan had also crossed the pass in the winter weather but encountered no difficulty with wagons. The importance of the Mullan Pass was immediately recognized by the press.

Blazing the Mullan Road, along with his expedition to the Salish and his exploration of the Bitterroot Valley, gave John Mullan a reputation as one of the preeminent explorers of the day.

Later life
Mullan was placed in charge of selecting a wagon route (now commonly called the Mullan Road) between Fort Benton and Fort Walla Walla in Washington.

Mullan was promoted to First Lieutenant in February 1855 and transferred to Florida for two years. He returned to the Washington Territory, and from 1858 to 1862 was engaged as chief of construction in building the Mullan Road across the Rockies. Lt. Mullan fought in the Wright Campaign in September 1858 where he was in charge of the Nez Percé scouts.

Mullan was promoted Captain in 1862 and married in 1863. He resigned to begin ranching near Walla Walla, Washington, an endeavor that failed. He opened a successful law practice at San Francisco, and moved to Washington, D.C., in 1878. From 1883 to 1884, he succeeded General Charles Ewing as Catholic Commissioner for Indian Missions, (later the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions), which involved defending Roman Catholic mission interests and the rights of Native Americans.

Mullan died in Washington, D.C., in 1909, and was buried at St. Mary's Cemetery in Annapolis, Maryland. His brother, Dennis, and two sisters, Annie and Virginia, survived him as did his son, Frank, and daughters Emma and May.

Personal life
John Mullan, Jr.'s father died in 1863, and his mother in 1888.

In the fall of 1853, John Mullan met and married Mary Ann Finley, granddaughter of Jaco Finlay. Her age is unclear; she was born in either 1834 or 1836, making her either 19 or 17 years of age at the time of her marriage. She was one-half Native American. On June 9, 1855, Mary Ann died giving birth to a son, Peter Mullan.

In popular culture
John Mullan is the namesake of the city of Mullan, Idaho.

A portion of Interstate 90 is named the Capt. John Mullan Highway in his honor. In 1978, the Mullan Road was named a National Historic Engineering Landmark.