Historians search for the original Mullan Road

SUPERIOR - One local historian is trying to raise awareness of a historically significant aspect of Mineral County and in the process give the man who helped build it the recognition she thinks he deserves.

Mineral County Museum Secretary Kay Strombo along with 13 other residents interested in the county’s history trekked up past the Lookout Pass Ski area on Wednesday to see what used to be the Mullan Road as well as the St. Regis or Sohon Pass.

The pass was originally named after a German immigrant, Gustavus Sohon. Sohon was the cartographer, linguist and friend of the man who built the road from 1859 to 1862,  Lt. John Mullan.

The Mullan Road, which connected the Columbia and Missouri Rivers, was the first one constructed using modern engineering techniques and principles west of the Mississippi River. It would eventually stretch for 624 miles from Fort Walla Walla in Washington to Fort Benton in Nebraska Territory.

According to Idaho State Historian and Mullan expert Keith Petersen, the road which stretched through Mineral County, eventually became a vital part of the country’s longest interstate freeway, I-90. He describes the road in his book about Mullan as “one of the most important thoroughfares” in the West.

While much of the road has been lost to the elements, one thing that hasn’t been lost, thanks to those like Strombo, is the historical record of the road. But Strombo and other local historians are not just recording and saving history, they are also trying to change it to better represent the people who built the road.

Unknown to Strombo why or when, one pass through which the road traveled was renamed by the Northern Pacific Railroad when the rail line was built in the area. Strombo thinks the name should be returned to recognize a man who was instrumental in helping Mullan achieve the engineering feat that was the Mullan Road.

“We think the name should be changed back to the Sohon Pass,” Strombo said. “That was the only place in the United States where Sohon was mentioned. There’s all kinds of things about Mullan but there’s nothing honoring Sohon.”

Sohon was born in Tilsit, Germany in 1825 and emigrated to the U.S. when he was 17. His family settled in Brooklyn which he called home for the next decade before enlisting in the army in 1852.

Sohon met Mullan in 1853 when he was part of a group wintering in the Bitterroot Valley under his command. Mullan began to notice how well the private absorbed tribal languages and eventually Sohon began to serve as his interpreter. Sohon also sketched landscapes that have served as an invaluable historical record of his early days traveling   the Northwest with Mullan.

Because of his artistic and linguist skills, Sohon was hired by Mullan to communicate with local tribes and document the area. After Sohon led a contingent of 300 army recruits along a route that took them through what is now Mineral County, Mullan was convinced they could build a road in the area.

Over the next two years, Sohon continued to work for Mullan as the road was constructed. In 1862, he traveled with Mullan to Washington D.C. – no comma to assist in the preparation of maps and drawings for the official report on the road project.

Then in 1863, Sohon disappeared from the Northwest. He lived the rest of his life in Washington D.C. as a family man and small business owner. He never returned to the Northwest and according to Strombo, there is very little mentioned in the historical record about the man that had such an influential hand in helping build the Mullan Road. She and others are trying to change that.

“We have to get a whole bunch of people to agree that this is a good thing,” Strombo said. “We need people to sign up and say yes. There has to be a consensus among county officials like the commissioners that we should do this. We are hoping with the new awareness of the importance of the road that maybe we can get them to consider this.”

Strombo said the effort would continue with the Board of Geographic names in Washington D.C. to change the name of the pass. Strombo said she was hoping for the cooperation of county officials who have to approve the measure.

“We need to do this to honor Gustavus Sohon,” Strombo said. “He was so instrumental in helping Mullan put the road through. We think Sohon is important and he should be recognized for what he did.”