Museum looking to go to 150th Anniversary Mullan Road Conference
During this time 150 years ago, U.S. Army Lieut. John Mullan was finishing the first road ever to cross the Rocky Mountains to the inland of the Pacific Northwest. Mullan started the road in the spring of 1859 and finished it during the summer of 1860. The road travels from Fort Walla Walla, Washington to Fort Benton, Montana, which at the time was then Nebraska territory.
Kay Strombo, director of the Mineral County Museum, said that they are looking to put together a bus to travel to the 150th Anniversary Mullan Road Conference which will be held on May 20, 21 and 22 in Fort Benton, Mt.
"We sure would like to put a bus together, but so far only four or five people have mentioned it," she said. "I hope that if anybody would like to go please get a hold of us because they need to know how many people are coming. We're very excited. It's just going to be great. This will be about the twentieth year. There are going to be some neat speakers and they always do an exceptional job putting it on."
Strombo can provide you with any information you would like, but the conference cost is $50 and if you wish to go on the field trips it will cost you an additional $25. Some of the speakers include Marc Entze, Dr. Paul McDermott, Lee Hanchett and Dr. Bill Youngs, among others. Topics covered will include "Through the Indian Country: Native American Perspectives on Mullan and Regional Development" and "From the Mullan Road to Montana's Benton Road" among others.
"It's really important that the road be remembered because," Strombo said, "as it is part of our history. Mullan is not known outside of areas unless you're interested in cartography or road building or geology. It's a very limited few and we would like to see a lot more people involved because it is a part of our history because he came through here."
The road spans 624 miles and was one of the first designated roads in the area at the time. Strombo said it's interesting to note that while most exploration was done east to west the road was built west to east.
"He went west to east so that way he could have men and materials follow him," she said. "If he had waited for the steamboat to get into Fort Benton he couldn't of started until June or so when the river was high. And he actually started had a year earlier, but because of the Indian troubles in eastern Washington, he was delayed a year."
The road was initially intended to move soldiers from west to east. As early as 1852, the US government began to think about building an overland route to the Pacific Ocean to help settle the area with pioneers and eliminate any claims that France, England or Russia had on the disputed territories. Strombo said that the first people to use the road made it in the "fast time" of 61 days. She said that Mullan built the road with future development in mind and today the railroad track and interstate overlap some of the route.
Anyone interested in attending the conference can contact Strombo at 822-3543 or 822-4626.
The museum also has CD-ROMS for sale that contains detailed maps of the Mullan Road. They can be purchased for $10. Strombo said that they can also make paper maps for the same price.