The mystery - and history - of Capt. John Mullan

COEUR d'ALENE - Despite the significance of what he accomplished, Capt. John Mullan, the tireless U.S. Army engineer who built a rough wagon road across the Idaho Panhandle, remains largely unknown to the general public.

His story, however compelling, has rarely been told.

"It was an obscure road," regional historian Robert Singletary said. "And then the guy who built it, he left."

Singletary, a former music and history instructor at North Idaho College, has thoroughly researched the captain and his eponymous trail. To commemorate the 150th anniversary of Mullan's endeavor, Singletary will give a lecture at the Coeur d'Alene Public Library on Wednesday night, and then lead a field trip to Fourth of July Pass on Thursday.

Sponsored by the library, the lecture is free to the public and begins at 7 p.m. Singletary will discuss the history of the Mullan Road and the role it played in the Coeur d'Alene area.

The field trip embarks from the Museum of North Idaho at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. Guests will travel by charter bus to the Mullan Road historical site on Fourth of July summit, and hike a portion of the old route.

"You can actually walk about 200 yards on the Mullan Road," Singletary said.

On July 1, 1859, Mullan and about 100 men began work on a wagon road from Walla Walla, Wash., to Fort Benton, Mont. - a distance of well over 600 miles. It was very much a military campaign, Singletary said, burdened with supply wagons and a herd of beef cattle.

The going was rough, the route rugged. When Mullan reached the Coeur d'Alene mountains, his men chopped through enormous white pines.

"Mullan had a passion about the road," Singletary said. "He was consumed with the road. He really thought he was doing something great."

The crew celebrated July 4, 1861, on a high mountain pass east of present-day Coeur d'Alene. They carved the words "M.R. July 4 1861" into an old white pine. The pass became known as Fourth of July, and the tree remained intact until 1962, when it blew over in a fierce windstorm.

Today, the carved stump is on display at the Museum of North Idaho.

After seven years of surveying and construction, the Mullan Road was finally finished in 1862. It connected two military installations, Singletary said, but more notably, it linked the Columbia and Missouri River watersheds - an overland Northwest Passage.

"The Mullan Road was sort of a ribbon that tied the Inland Northwest together," he said. "That wagon road tied together two gigantic river systems."

Mullan went on to become a farmer, lawyer and politician, and would eventually move to San Francisco. In time his road fell into disrepair; the foundation decayed, the bridges washed out. But the track was revived in the late 1870s, after Gen. William T. Sherman traveled the Mullan Road and ordered its restoration.

"There wasn't much settlement in this area from when that road was built until Sherman," Singletary said.

Later, miners and settlers used the trail for local travel. In 1916, builders followed portions of the old Mullan Road while constructing U.S. Highway 10.

The town of Mullan was named after John Mullan.

During Thursday's field trip, Singletary will take participants to one of the last remaining sections of John Mullan's great road.

"The history of this area is just absolutely phenomenal," he said.

Tickets for the bus trip are $15 per person. They will be available at the Wednesday lecture, and can also be purchased at the Museum of North Idaho. Space is limited.

Information: Robert Singletary, 755-1308