Blazing the Mullan Road

Army engineers bent on establishing a wagon route across Montana and into the Pacific Northwest began surveys and explorations in 1853 for what would become the Mullan Road under the direction of Isaac Stevens, a West Point graduate and the first appointed governor of Washington Territory. That spring, Stevens organized and led an expedition of engineers and explorers west from St. Paul, Minnesota. Their task: to detail the geographical character of the country. Ultimately, they would chart a