Coleman, Louis C., and Leo Rieman. Captain John Mullan: His Life, Building the Mullan Road, As It Is Today, and Interesting Tales of Occurrences along the Road. Compiled by B. C. Payette. Montreal: Payette Radio Limited, 1968.
This extensive illustrated volume combines a biography of John Mullan with an account of the road’s construction, its condition during the twentieth century, and stories associated with communities and landmarks along its route. Although written as a popular rather than strictly scholarly history, it remains a valuable collection of photographs, local accounts, and information about the Mullan Road as it existed in the mid-twentieth century.
Jackson, W. Turrentine. Wagon Roads West: A Study of Federal Road Surveys and Construction in the Trans-Mississippi West, 1846–1869. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1952.
Jackson examines the federal government’s role in surveying, financing, and constructing wagon roads throughout the American West during the mid-nineteenth century. His detailed discussion of the Mullan Road places it within the broader national effort to establish military, commercial, and transportation routes across western territories. Read the book through HathiTrust (Click Full View)
Kautz, Lawrence G. August Valentine Kautz, USA: Biography of a Civil War General. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 2008.
Drawing extensively from Kautz’s personal journals, this biography traces his military career from the Mexican–American War and his early service in the Pacific Northwest through the Civil War and later frontier assignments. It also describes his experiences traveling the Mullan Road, providing a valuable firsthand perspective on the road and the challenges of travel across the nineteenth-century Northwest.
Krueger, Carl G. Mullan Road across the Bitterroots. Missoula, MT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Region, 1978.
This illustrated Forest Service publication examines the route of the Mullan Road across the rugged Bitterroot Mountains. It describes the difficulties encountered during construction and helps readers identify the historic road’s course and surviving features through this particularly challenging section.
Nash, Stewart. John Mullan: Soldier, Explorer, Road-Builder. Bygone Era Books, 2015.
Nash was a professional land surveyor in Townsend, Montana, with more than forty years' experience. His practical surveying background gives the biography a distinctive perspective: he was particularly interested in Mullan as a surveyor, engineer, and road builder and had traveled portions of the country Mullan surveyed.
Petersen, Keith C. John Mullan: The Tumultuous Life of a Western Road Builder. Pullman: Washington State University Press, 2014.
The first comprehensive biography of John Mullan, this book traces his life from West Point through his surveying expeditions and construction of the Mullan Road. Petersen presents a balanced portrait of Mullan’s accomplishments, ambitions, controversies, and lasting influence on the development of the Pacific Northwest.
Richards, Kent D. Isaac I. Stevens: Young Man in a Hurry. Revised ed. Pullman: Washington State University Press, 2016.
Richards presents a comprehensive biography of Isaac Stevens, Washington Territory’s first governor and the leader of the northern transcontinental railroad survey in which John Mullan served. The book examines Stevens’s ambitious personality, railroad explorations, controversial treaties with Native nations, territorial administration, and Civil War service while providing essential context for Mullan’s early explorations and the eventual construction of the Mullan Road.
Robison, Ken. Fort Benton. Postcard History Series. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2009.
Using historic postcards and photographs, Robison traces the development of Fort Benton from a fur-trading post into a major Missouri River transportation center and the “Birthplace of Montana.” The book’s visual history illustrates the town’s importance as the eastern terminus of the Mullan Road and its role in the settlement and economic development of the Northwest.
Ulrich, R. W. The Mullan Road: Its Story and Importance to the Inland Empire. 1951.
Ulrich provides an early history of the Mullan Road, recounting its construction and examining its importance to transportation, commerce, mining, and settlement in the Inland Northwest. Published less than a century after the road was constructed, the work offers a useful perspective on how the Mullan Road’s regional significance was understood during the mid-twentieth century.