John Mullan: Soldier, Explorer, Road Builder

INTRODUCTION

Subsequent to Lewis and Clark’s Corp of Discovery explorations in 1804-06, a number of other explorations were conducted. The piecing together of those various explorations helped Congressional Representatives make the monumental purchases of the Oregon Territory of 1846 and the lands ceded by Mexico in 1848. Major Stephen Long led the first western exploration expedition to utilize a steamboat as its main means of transportation, but it failed to travel further than 600 miles above St. Louis. His expedition proceeded on horseback to explore the Platte and Arkansas Rivers. His official artist, Samuel Seymore sketched his, View of the Chasm through which the Platte issues from the Rocky Mountains, which was considered the first published image of the Rocky Mountains made from direct observation.

Fur traders, some self-employed, others for the great trading companies, were also important in the exploration and mapping of the North American West in the early 1800’s. Traders like Jedediah Smith, traveled extensively in the plains and Rockies, sharing their information at trappers’ rendezvous and with army officers, missionaries, and overland emigrants. Most importantly, geographic knowledge of the fur trade was embedded in a number of popular books such as those written by Washington Irving, and in maps produced for the government by David Burr, the geographer to the House of Representatives.

Father De Smet, representing a long tradition of missionary explorers, was an indefatigable traveler, a keen observer of the Indian peoples and fascinated with the physical geography of the West. In 1851, De Smet prepared a manuscript map of the Upper Great Plains and the Rocky Mountain region. Tribal chiefs, Indian agents, military officers, and fur traders, contributed to its contents. It is the most detailed and accurate record of the locations of mountain ranges, rivers, forts, and major trails of this region prior to the western railway surveys.

Frémont himself, more adventurer than scientist, was accompanied by the German surveyor and cartographer Charles Preuss, who not only created new surveys of the Great Basin, central Oregon and western Nevada, but also collected plant and mineral specimens and sketched landscapes. He drew a profile of Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens with the Columbia River from the trail along the Deschutes River, and recorded various "Hights [sic] of Mountains" in his field notebook. Preuss and Frémont were among the earliest Euro-Americans to view the Great Salt Lake and Lake Tahoe.(1)

Between 1830 and 1840, Jesuit and other denomination missionaries traveled to the Pacific Northwest, establishing missions and converting many Indians. Also, during the 1830s and 1840s, modes of transportation in the eastern half of the nation changed from rivers and canals to roads, turnpikes, and railroads. Business and political leaders envisioned the construction of a transcontinental railway linking eastern urban and industrial centers with newly acquired western lands.

Doctor Elijah White was commissioned as Indian Agent for the territory west of Iowa. He traveled out to the west coast and in 1842, he traveled from the Willamette Valley area to the interior to hand down the law to the Indians there. His goal was to control them and provide a means for punishing offenses such as hampering white settlers. In 1843 the Cayuses and Wallawalla chiefs approved the laws which dealt with things such as murder, theft and destruction of property. The laws soon carried to the Nez Perces and Spokane’s. By 1848, nearly 10,000 immigrants had traveled the Oregon Trail from Independence, Missouri. As more and more white people colonized along the west coast and homesteaders established farms in the fertile valleys, the Indians felt the pressure. They saw favorite harvesting areas of camas root being farmed under and were told to go elsewhere. Diseases brought by the settlers devastated many of the Indians and some encounters grew hostile, such as the Whitman Massacre, which brought a 500 man militia into action. In 1849, a Mounted Rifle Regiment arrived at Fort Vancouver, as well as two companies of the First Artillery of the War Department that had sent troops down the east coast and across the Isthmus of Panama. As more conflicts developed in the Pacific Northwest, the requests to send troops from back east proved expensive. The need to know the true potential of an overland route was a topic often discussed on Capitol Hill in the early 1850s.

With the end of the Mexican War and the beginning of the California Gold Rush, the need to connect the new American West with the East became even more imperative. After a long series of debates in 1853, Congress authorized the War Department and the Corps of Topographical Engineers to conduct a comprehensive survey to determine the most practical and economical route.

Today as one drives along the various highways and Interstate 90 in Montana, Idaho and Washington, they will notice a number of historical signs regarding Lieutenant John Mullan and the Mullan Military Road. A town off I-90 in Idaho is named Mullan as well as a stretch of I-90 called the Mullan Highway. Several towns and cities have a Mullan street or road named after the explorer/road builder. Overall there are twelve statues, twelve stone or pyramid monuments, twelve road signs, and six historical markers, a total of forty-two, commemorating John Mullan and his military road between Walla Walla Washington and Fort Benton, Montana. This is his story.

CHAPTER 1

It was a warm day in early June, 1847. President James K. Polk reclined comfortably in an armchair in his private office, his feet resting on a footstool. He was alone, enjoying his favorite clay pipe. He had a few quiet moments before he would be interviewing an enterprising young man for an appointment to West Point Academy, a 16 year old graduate of St. John’s College at Annapolis, the best college in the south. A knock at the door drew the President away from his thoughts. The President’s personal secretary opened the door to let him know that his appointment, John Mullan, was here.

Young Mullan entered the room and President Polk stood and waved a hand for him to come forward. He offered his hand and Mullan clasped it with a firm grip. Polk saw he was short, perhaps 5’5, but handsome with an athletic build. His hair was dark brown, the hairline receding slightly, more so than in most young men. His chin was square and his lips thin. Blue eyes gave an appearance of sternness, and he seemed confident. His mannerisms were faultless. Polk told John to sit in the chair that had been placed for him, directly in front of the armchair, just beyond the footstool. Combined versions of their meeting say that the president asked, Well my little man, what can I do for you?"

Mullan was slightly taken aback that the President himself would imply his stature to be less than most men. He had been labelled a little man throughout college. But he pushed the annoyance to the back of his mind and it has been reported that he replied, I may be somewhat small, sir, but can’t a small man be a soldier as well as a large man?

The President replied, Let me know why I should consider the appointment, other than a small man can be a good soldier.(2)

John had prepared his speech for this moment and informed the President he was sixteen years of age, had graduated from St. John’s College with honors, receiving an A.B. degree. His father had served in the military and was presently the postmaster at the Naval Academy. The President read over John’s transcripts and letters of recommendations and told John he couldn’t promise anything, but would see what he could do.

John’s hopes slipped away for six weeks, until an official envelope came to the house. On opening it, the first thing he saw was a sheet from the secretary of war. It was an appointment for the military academy of West Point, signed and sealed by the President of the United States.

John was raised in a Catholic family and was the eldest of nine children. He entered West Point on July 1, 1848, at age seventeen. Through hard work, flourishing in classes and on the athletic fields, John made many friends. He was characterized by his officers as exhibiting great energy, ambition, perseverance and being a natural leader. By his classmates, he was friendly, honest, and even-tempered. Often, he would check out books at the library with a sense of adventure and a hunger for knowledge. Classes John took at the academy included: engineering - receiving instructions from the brightest mind in engineering of the U.S at the time, Mr. Alfred Thayer Mahan drawing, learning anatomy, topography, landscape studies, shading, shadowing and perspectives; surveying and analytical geometry; English studies; French; mineralogy; geology; and infantry tactics and artillery and cavalry.

Mullan was allowed only two months of leave at the end of year two of four. The meals consisted primarily of boiled meats. No vegetables were given.

He graduated in June 1852, fifteenth in his class of two-hundred, with the rank of Brevet 2nd Lieutenant, with a mere forty-three demerits in four years, none in his third. He and a fellow classmate were arrested for gambling, an event that normally would be followed by being dismissed permanently from the school. Among members of his graduation class were Philip Sheridan and George Crook.(3) At school John learned to take observations on the sun and the stars and made the computations to determine latitude and longitude. He became proficient at making and reading maps, and was assigned to the 2nd Artillery, where he was further trained in the use of various survey instruments.

By now, John had lamb chop sideburns reaching down to an inch or less just below each corner of his mouth. His hairline had receded more, particularly on the left side, where he parted his hair. Dressed in his military uniform he was handsome, but often had a stern expression, his mind contemplating the tasks at hand, or considering a topic of discussion. A transfer stationed him at Fort Columbus, New York, where he put his map reading skills to good use when training sessions required artillery placements. John hoped these acquired skills would one day be put to the test. He was anxious to see where the army life would lead him.

In March 1853, Congress formed the Territory of Washington out of the northern portion of the Oregon Territory. There were numerous discussions concerning a railroad connection to the Pacific slope due to the expanding population, and congress appropriated $150,000 for an exploration of feasibility. President Franklin Pierce received a request for the governorship of Washington Territory from Major Isaac I. Stevens, an 1839 West Point graduate. He also requested to be placed in charge of the survey for a railroad route. Stevens’ name was submitted to the Senate, the appointment confirmed, and aged thirty-four, he resigned his commission as First Lieutenant of Engineers and Brevet Major in the army. The formal order issued on April 8, 1853 by Secretary of War, Jefferson Davis, placed the new Governor Stevens in charge of the Northern Route of Exploration and Survey. The Indian Department gave Stevens the authority to hold councils with Indian tribes wherever encountered, and to make treaties with those who were not previously superintended.

Stevens obtained the full appropriation amount to conduct the explorations. A long and dangerous route lay ahead, between the 47th and 49th parallels, nearly two thousand miles long and two hundred fifty miles wide. All officers assigned for the exploration reported to Governor Stevens in Washington D.C. One officer was 2nd Lieutenant John Mullan, detailed as an assistant to Stevens.

Whilst working at the Coast and Geodetic office in the nation’s capital, Stevens attended the Smithsonian Institute’s Gallery of Indian Art from various artists in the 1850s. One particular artist who had extensively travelled in the west was John Mix Stanley. Stevens contacted the Institute with hopes to locate him. He was successful in persuading Stanley to accompany the expedition as the official artist, due to Stanley’s work with landscapes, portraits, and renderings of Native American life.(4)

Many survey instruments had to be made prior to the expedition and Stevens immediately issued orders for portable transits, barometers, and levels to be constructed. As Stevens’ assistant, Mullan was able to offer advice concerning the manufacturer of some of the equipment he had trained with, some models better than others.

As the time approached to leave for the west, Stevens divided his command into four parties. He would command the main detail. Brevet Captain George B. McClellan would command the most western detail, who were ordered to proceed with his scientific staff to the Puget Sound area by way of the Isthmus of Panama. He was to search for a suitable pass over the Cascade Mountains, then travel east to meet up with the main detail, their routes planned out.

Lieutenant Rufus Saxton’s detail of fifty-two men was directed to travel to San Francisco by way of the Isthmus of Panama, purchase four thousand rations for another depot of provisions, transport them by pack train to St. Mary’s Flathead Indian Village next to Fort Owen along the Bitteroot River. They too would then travel east to meet up with the main party.

Lieutenant A.J. Donelson, accompanied by 2nd Lieutenant Mullan, was to depart for St. Louis, to purchase ten thousand rations and transport them up the Missouri River, over seven hundred miles to Fort Union near the mouth of the Yellowstone River. Six enlisted and three civilian men accompanied them. Their duty en route was to take the best possible survey of the river as they traveled by steamboat. Mullan decided he would grow a beard, for once they left the paddle wheeler and started on horseback, shaving would be a nuisance.

Among the civilians with Donelson was Dr. John Evans, appointed as geologist of the exploration. Since 1851, he had been in the service of the Department of the Interior, making a geological survey of the entire Oregon Territory. He had passed over portions of the intended expedition routes, and offered Stevens helpful information regarding rivers and passes.

While in St. Louis, Stevens hired Alexander Culbertson, founder of Fort Benton for the American Fur Company, as a special agent to the Blackfeet Indians, the most troublesome tribe they would encounter. Culbertson had resided many years among the Blackfeet and had been in charge of several different forts along the Missouri for the fur company.

The Donelson party made its way to Fort Union several days before Stevens’ group, who traveled overland. The American Fur Company had built the fort on the eastern bank of the Missouri in 1830, nearly three miles above the mouth of the Yellowstone River. On one side of the fort sat dwellings and shops: a blacksmith, gunsmith, shoemaker, carpenter, and tailor amongst others. The Assiniboine, Crow, and Gros Ventre, alongside other migratory bands of Indians, traded at the fort, exchanging furs as well as buffalo, elk, and deer hides.

Fort Union was located near the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers on the Montana/North Dakota border. From 1828 to 1867, the fort was the most important fur trading post on the Upper Missouri. Established by Jacob Aster’s American Fur Company as a trading post, it became a bastion of peaceful coexistence, annually trading over 25,000 buffalo robes and $100,000 of merchandise. In 1867, the fort was taken over by the military and was torn down. Fort Buford was erected nearby. In 1966, with the help of local citizens and agencies, the Fort Union site was acquired by the National Park Service. After three archaeological projects, reconstruction of the bourgeois house was completed in 1987, followed by the walls and bastions in 1989, finishing the trade house in 1991. It is now a national historic site

For seven days, Stevens’ detachment prepared for its continued trip west, building Pembina carts(5) and working over wagons and items purchased from the fur company. The fort sold them two additional oxen teams and placed other animals at the army’s disposal that they could spare, as well as guides, hunters, and information. They also purchased a great number of winter moccasins, gloves, and other clothing made by the Indian wives of the officers and factors of the post. Jokingly, some of the fur traders spread rumors that the army would probably encounter knee-deep snow by the time they reached Fort Benton, and twenty feet in the Rocky Mountain passes by October, which caused much discussion among Stevens’ men. However, Stevens had brought some books of travel in the west, particularly, De Smet’s Oregon Missions. Between that information and what Culbertson and the officers of the fur company provided, Stevens was able to satisfy his men about the matter of snow. Not a single man desired to be discharged when offered the opportunity.

Stevens met with Lieutenants Donelson and Grover early one morning to issue orders for the next phase. Donelson would be exploring towards the Cypress Mountains near the South Saskatchewan.(6) He was to continue as far north as Edmonton House(7) into British Territory, cross the Rocky Mountains at that latitude, explore the sources of the Columbia River, making a survey of it, and connect it with other exploration work.

Donelson’s expedition would entail a pack train traveling nearly 400 miles north to Edmonton House, two hundred thirty miles east to the Columbia River, and four hundred miles south to the confluence of the Snake River. Stevens had likely reviewed maps by Canadian explorer David Thompson, made between 1784 and 1812. Stevens would have been most interested in the maps from Edmonton House to the mouth of the Columbia River. On Thompson’s maps, the Rocky Mountains look like a twisted chain, with separate loops linking the big peaks north and south in an effort to convey timberline, glaciers, height, and mass.(8) The map from Edmonton House would assist Donelson in finding the trail across the mountains. Grover’s pack train expedition would travel westerly and return by a different route covering about five hundred miles, then travel by dogsled in the winter, from Fort Benton to Puget Sound, some six hundred miles.

Lieutenant Grover was to continue along the wagon road to Fort Benton by way of Milk River. From there his exploration party was to cross the mountains by way of Cadotte’s Pass(9) to meet up with Lieutenant Saxton and the western division. Then he was to return northeast, making a survey of the upper Missouri to connect with the survey by Lieutenant Donelson. His second exploration would leave from Fort Benton in the winter to cross the mountains by dog train to determine snow depths and winter climate all the way to Puget Sound. Stevens said he would give him more details at Fort Benton.

Fort Benton was established as a fur trading fort in 1847 by Alexander Culbertson of the American Fur Company, and was the terminus of steamboat travel up the Missouri River. It is one of the oldest settlements in the American West. Currently, the city has about fourteen hundred residents, and since 1966, a portion of the city is a National Historical Landmark. Museums and a replica of the old fort are well worth the forty mile drive northeast of Great Falls.

A few days later, all of Stevens’ eastern detachments except Donelson’s, gathered in Fort Benton. The fort front was made of wood, the other sides were of adobe, or unburned Missouri mud brick. About a dozen men, some with families, resided within the compound. The general arrangements and purposes were quite similar to Fort Union. The Blackfeet tribe was the main traders here, and they encamped around the fort wherever they could find wood, water, and grass for the horses. The half-breeds of the fort visited them at their camps and conducted most of the trading.

A half mile upriver from the Fort was Fort Campbell, constructed in similar fashion. The St. Louis Fur Company built the fort in 1847, a year after Fort Benton. Alexander Harvey, the most infamous of Indian traders on the upper Missouri—known to be fearless, bold, vindictive, and quarrelsome—operated this fort. Harvey had worked for the American Fur Company at Fort Lookout in 1832 and later assigned to Fort McKenzie as a trader/factor, already feared and hated by his associates. By the time he came to Fort Campbell, he had killed a few men who had tried to end his life. Competition was fierce between the two trading posts.

While on the Milk River, Stevens sent three men out to explore a short distance into the Bear Paw Mountains. The Bear Paw’s lie southerly of present day Havre, MT. The three men were to meet up with Stevens’ party by noon of that day, but did not make the connection. They had one rifle and little ammunition. Their only chance at game was a lone antelope, which they missed. Unprepared for the cool nights and finding no firewood, they suffered, huddled together for warmth. Eventually they found the road the Stevens party had traveled and within a short distance found Lieutenant Donelson’s party camped for the evening. Donelson supplied them with warm blankets, rations, and fresh horses. Stevens became concerned about the missing men and while at Fort Benton, he was about to dispatch an express to Lieutenant Donelson to arrange a search for the men. Just before Stevens’ express man left, the three came into the fort, all in fine spirits despite their ordeal.

On September 5, Lieutenant Grover left the fort to meet up with Lieutenant Saxton. Saxton was to leave rations at St. Mary’s Flathead Indian Village next to Fort Owen along the Bitteroot River. On that same day, Lieutenant Donelson’s party was encamped in a swale. During the night loud cracks of lightening from a thunderstorm to their north wakened most men. As daybreak crept over the prairie, they smelled smoke. Donelson sent a man to the top of the hill to look for the source. The man ran back toward camp, shouting that a prairie fire was nearly upon them. Men scurried to tear down the camp. A gust of wind brought the fire near the top of the swale and traveled around it, surrounding them on three sides. At first it appeared they would have to leave the two unhitched wagons and supplies.

Donaldson gave orders to try and protect their goods. Every man had something in hand to help prevent the fire from entering the encampment. Smoke poured into the swale. Eyes watered and men coughed through wet bandanas. Horses whinnied and oxen bellowed, trying to pull away from the tethers. Embers blew into the swale and men scurried to beat out the fast igniting flames in the dry grass. Finally the smoke subsided as the fire worked its way around and continued burning south. Animals sneezed, and snorted, trying to rid themselves of the smoke and ash in their nostrils. Some men’s face and hands were blackened from the smoke, and eyes were reddened. A few had neck and hand burns where embers had landed. They were thankful the fire had not swooped down and overpowered them.

By the time the Donelson party reached Fort Benton, Stevens had talked to a number of men at both forts, gathering additional information about the terrain and probable snow conditions that lay ahead. Stevens likely spoke with Donelson about Lieutenant Mullan as the two had traveled up the Missouri together, making a survey of the river from the steamboat. He was considering sending Mullan with some men to search for a specific tribe of Indians south of Fort Benton. Due to the lateness of the year, Stevens now decided to send Donelson on a different route to explore and meet up with his own twenty-five-man party before reaching the Bitteroot Valley. After advising Donelson his new orders, Stevens sent for 2nd Lieutenant Mullan.

Mullan knew that Stevens was thirteen years older than himself, but he appeared younger than that. John wondered what sort of command Stevens might give him. He felt ready to serve the new Governor of Washington Territory, and was anxious to prove he would be worthy of a command.

Stevens told him he was assigning him a party to carry out a visit of goodwill to a Flathead camp, which he’d been told was on the Muscle Shell River. Currently spelled Musselshell, this river is a tributary of the Missouri River, its mouth being some 150 miles northeast of the current town of Harlowton, the area where Stevens supposed the Indian camp to be located. The Assiniboine Indians had named this prairie river after the native mussels they harvested from the stream bed.

He wanted Mullan to express his desire to make a permanent peace between them and the Blackfeet, and to build anew their beautiful St. Mary’s village. Stevens then told Mullan to procure from them a few of their chiefs as guides to travel with him for a meeting. On the way, he was to look for a good pass leading from the forks of the Missouri to the Bitteroot River. He told Mullan to make every effort to meet him at Fort Owen near the end of the month, giving him almost three weeks to make the ride. After reaching the fort, they would make arrangements there for his winter quarters. Mullan learned for the first time that he would be stationed in the mountainous area, and wondered what his duties would be. Stevens then said he would write out his orders and duties so that he completely understood what sort of information was required, duties similar to Lieutenant Donelson’s from Saint Louis. "Your party will consist of Mr. Burr, Peter Martin as hunter, Levi Nichols, and Frank Genette, voyagers,(10) and White Crane as your Indian guide. I have already sent a message to each of them. You will prepare to leave within two days." He then dismissed the Lieutenant.

The following day, Mullan received his written orders:

With a select party, consisting of the Piegan guide, (the White Crane,) Mr. Rose, Mr. Burr, and two voyagers, you will visit the Flathead camp on the Muscle Shell river, about one hundred miles south of this place; and procuring the most intelligent and reliable Flathead guides, you will make your way to the St. Mary’s village, exploring the best pass to that point from the headwaters of the Missouri river. You will collect every possible information as to routes, streams, prominent land-marks, and characteristic features of country; noting particularly the general quality of the soil, the forest trees, grasses, quality of water, and practicability of the route for passage of wagon trains. With the barometer you will make the best profile the time will allow of the route you pass over, and such facts as your limited means will allow as to the feasibility of the route for a railroad.

But the great duty which I place in your hands, is to carry from me a message of the Great Father to the Flatheads. Assure them that the Great Father appreciates their services and understands their merits; that he will hereafter protect them from the incursions of the Blackfeet, and other Indians east of the mountains, and make them live as friends; that he will send to them, each year, certain articles which they most need; and that a faithful and intelligent agent shall live among them.

Stevens continued the orders concerning his desire to meet the Flatheads and finished by saying,

I want to build up anew the village of St. Mary’s. Let the Flatheads understand I am their friend—one who will join hands with former friends for their good. No labors will be more sweet than those which enable me to place in permanent homes, in that beautiful valley, these interesting children of the mountains.(11)

CHAPTER 2

John read over his orders several times, not wanting to miss anything Stevens had written. The journal he was required to keep would be rewritten when he arrived at Fort Owen, the report then given to Stevens. He didn’t want to rely on memory for any part of his report, and would keep his journal satchel handy to write down details. He thought about how his eyes would be the eyes of Governor Stevens, as well as Congress, knowing that all of his reports would ultimately be typeset published ones, whereby they and others could make final decisions and obtain financing for a railroad. Mullan listened intently to Stevens every time he had the opportunity, learning that Stevens was farsighted. John had thought a great deal about this railroad route across the Rocky Mountains and was gaining confidence that if given the opportunity, he could be much more than just the eyes of others. He would be as positive as he could about finding a route important to the Government, and to the people who would come after. He knew it would not be an