Mullan Road
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Mullan Road
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Looking north at one of the few remaining gravel stretches of the Mullan Road as it crosses Washington State Route 26 near Washtucna, Washington. The portion south of SR 26 has reverted to grazing.
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| Nearest city |
St. Maries, Idaho Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Mullan, Idaho St. Regis, Montana Missoula, Montana Helena, Montana Great Falls, Montana |
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| Built | 1853, 164 years ago |
| NRHP Reference # | 90000548 |
| Added to NRHP | April 5, 1990 |
Mullan Road was the first wagon road to cross the Rocky Mountains to the Inland of the Pacific Northwest. It was built by U.S. Army troops under the command of Lt. John Mullan, between the spring of 1859 and summer 1860. It led from Fort Benton, which at the time was in the Dakota Territory, then Idaho Territory from July 1863, and Montana Territory beginning in May 1864, and the navigational head of the Missouri River (and once farthest inland port in the world). The road connected to Fort Walla Walla, Washington Territory, near the Columbia River. The road previewed the route approximately followed of modern-day Interstate 15 and Interstate 90 through present-day Montana, Idaho, and Washington.
Parts of the Mullan Road can still be traveled; one such section is near Washtucna, Washington.
A segment of the Mullan Road in the vicinity of Benton Lake was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, and the American Society of Civil Engineers designated it a historic civil engineering landmark in 1977. Three segments of the road in Idaho were also listed on the National Register in 1990. In 2009, the Point of Rocks segment in Montana was also listed on the National Register as part of the Point of Rocks Historic Transportation Corridor.
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Wikipedia