This chapter follows August Kautz (a West Point classmate of John Mullan) and the 1860 Blake Recruit Expedition as they travel by steamboat up the Missouri River to Fort Benton and then over the newly constructed Mullan Road. The chapter describes the difficulties of the journey, Kautz’s encounters with John Mullan and his road crews, and the expedition’s challenging passage across the Rocky and Bitterroot Mountains before Kautz continues on to Fort Colville and western Washington.

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