John Mullan’s Guide Book
by Robin Johnson
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the course
History 590
Instructor: Dr. Bill Youngs
Eastern Washington University
March, 2015
by Robin Johnson
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the course
History 590
Instructor: Dr. Bill Youngs
Eastern Washington University
March, 2015
Abstract
In the 21st century American roads are signified by signs, icons, landmarks, and other symbols
that guide our destination or serve to warn us of any difficulty that may lie ahead. Today we can
follow roadmaps, guides, or use a GPS that comes equipped with most phones and is currently
installed into almost every means of transportation, however, American roads also represent an
American ideal yet ever present today as it was yesterday. In 1923 Hilaire Belloc wrote,
Not only is the Road one of the great human institutions because of its fundamental to
social existence, but also because its varied effect appears in every department of the State.
It is the Road which determines the sites of many cities and the growth and nourishment of
all. It is the Road which gives its frame-work to all economic development. It is the Road
which is the channel of all trade and, what is more important, of all ideas. In its most
humble function it is a necessary guide without which progress from place to place would
be a ceaseless experiment; it is sustenance without which organized society would be
impossible; thus…the Road moves and controls all history (as cited by Raitz, 1998).
The Federal road commissions brought discipline to surveying, construction, and the
configuration of roads (Raitz, 1998) but roadside structure remained largely the creation of local
people, who built a vernacular landscape that was undisciplined. Although satellites can guide us
virtually to any road in the world, those living in the 1800’s had no such conveniences and many
times the roads lying ahead were full of unknowns making a reliable road traveler’s guide crucial
to their survival, reaching their destinations intact, stirring Manifest Destiny into the heart of a
nation.
In the 21st century American roads are signified by signs, icons, landmarks, and other symbols
that guide our destination or serve to warn us of any difficulty that may lie ahead. Today we can
follow roadmaps, guides, or use a GPS that comes equipped with most phones and is currently
installed into almost every means of transportation, however, American roads also represent an
American ideal yet ever present today as it was yesterday. In 1923 Hilaire Belloc wrote,
Not only is the Road one of the great human institutions because of its fundamental to
social existence, but also because its varied effect appears in every department of the State.
It is the Road which determines the sites of many cities and the growth and nourishment of
all. It is the Road which gives its frame-work to all economic development. It is the Road
which is the channel of all trade and, what is more important, of all ideas. In its most
humble function it is a necessary guide without which progress from place to place would
be a ceaseless experiment; it is sustenance without which organized society would be
impossible; thus…the Road moves and controls all history (as cited by Raitz, 1998).
The Federal road commissions brought discipline to surveying, construction, and the
configuration of roads (Raitz, 1998) but roadside structure remained largely the creation of local
people, who built a vernacular landscape that was undisciplined. Although satellites can guide us
virtually to any road in the world, those living in the 1800’s had no such conveniences and many
times the roads lying ahead were full of unknowns making a reliable road traveler’s guide crucial
to their survival, reaching their destinations intact, stirring Manifest Destiny into the heart of a
nation.
When Lieutenant John Mullan began his journey in the spring of 1853 to construct a military
road from Fort Walla Walla on the Columbia river to Fort Benton on the Missouri, he had only
one map and little information; the map left by Lewis and Clark in 1805, and the meager bits
pieces of information provided by the Hudson’s Bay Company (Mullan Report, 1863, p. 1-3).
Lieutenant John Mullan was one of the officers chosen from West Point by Washington
Territorial Gov. Isaac Stevens to find and survey the “most practical and economical route” to
Puget Sound for a Pacific railroad connection (Hayes, 2004, p. 190; Peterson, 2014, p. 19). At
this time, the north westward region had been less explored and although a railroad connection
from St. Paul across the prairies to the eastern watershed was accurately and rapidly explored,
the Bitterroot Range of the Rockies proved the most difficult leaving John Mullan grappling for
any additional information of the region from chance travelers or sojourners that may help him in
mapping out an accurate and suitable route (Mullan Report, 1863, p. 2, 3).
The early traveling guide books before and during John Mullan’s time were created in this
very same fashion; by collecting information from different sources alongside keeping a record
of their own experience of the expedition in notes, journals, and diaries. These stories and the
valuable information they provided would often appear in a host of newspapers that were widely
distributed (Unruh, 1979) and reprinted and many times newspapers formatted the information in
a series of questions and answers concerning which route to take, specifications for team and
wagon, necessary provisions, arms and ammunition, length of journey, and the proper time for
starting (p. 74). These overland experiences and accounts proved to be highly valuable, popular,
and marketable tidbits of information that newspapers published and circulated eventually
evolving into an assortment of traveler’s guide of which there were many (Kroll, 1944, p. 105;
road from Fort Walla Walla on the Columbia river to Fort Benton on the Missouri, he had only
one map and little information; the map left by Lewis and Clark in 1805, and the meager bits
pieces of information provided by the Hudson’s Bay Company (Mullan Report, 1863, p. 1-3).
Lieutenant John Mullan was one of the officers chosen from West Point by Washington
Territorial Gov. Isaac Stevens to find and survey the “most practical and economical route” to
Puget Sound for a Pacific railroad connection (Hayes, 2004, p. 190; Peterson, 2014, p. 19). At
this time, the north westward region had been less explored and although a railroad connection
from St. Paul across the prairies to the eastern watershed was accurately and rapidly explored,
the Bitterroot Range of the Rockies proved the most difficult leaving John Mullan grappling for
any additional information of the region from chance travelers or sojourners that may help him in
mapping out an accurate and suitable route (Mullan Report, 1863, p. 2, 3).
The early traveling guide books before and during John Mullan’s time were created in this
very same fashion; by collecting information from different sources alongside keeping a record
of their own experience of the expedition in notes, journals, and diaries. These stories and the
valuable information they provided would often appear in a host of newspapers that were widely
distributed (Unruh, 1979) and reprinted and many times newspapers formatted the information in
a series of questions and answers concerning which route to take, specifications for team and
wagon, necessary provisions, arms and ammunition, length of journey, and the proper time for
starting (p. 74). These overland experiences and accounts proved to be highly valuable, popular,
and marketable tidbits of information that newspapers published and circulated eventually
evolving into an assortment of traveler’s guide of which there were many (Kroll, 1944, p. 105;
Publications of these experiences and narratives were instrumental in
arousing a sleeping giant… Manifest Destiny.
The Evolution of the Traveler’s Guide…The Symbolism of Manifest Destiny
In 1851 one newspaper, the Kanesville Frontier Guardian, reported letters from Mormons
and Gentiles in “almost every State in the Union” asking for information about making the
overland trip but often newspapers printed tables for distances was scarcely enough detail to be
any value (Unruh, 1979, p. 74). Travelers incorporated images, impressions, and ideas from the
many things they encountered on and along the road and found that what they learned invested
them with the authority of knowledge (Raitz, 1998, p. 364). Those who had made the journey
over the Oregon and California trails assumed that their experiences would be useful to others
and these published accounts of them would be readily marketable (Kroll, 1944, p. 106).
The authors of the various guidebooks, most of who had made the trip themselves, (Unruh,
1979) had similar things in common, an appendix or as the main body of the book a table of
distances accompanied by a running commentary on the character of the road, the most suitable
camp sites, the presence or absence of the all-important wood, water, and grass, noting any
available short cuts or alternate routes, the fords of rivers (Kroll, 1994, p. 104). According to
Helen B. Kroll’s article titled The Books that Enlightened the Emigrants (1944) few of the books
used as guides to the western territories from 1845 to 1865 were preserved and although they
were produced in great numbers during this time it is believed that the first to vanish were the
best and most useful guides since they were paper bound and being carried, handled, and quickly
wearing them out (p.106).
The Evolution of the Traveler’s Guide…The Symbolism of Manifest Destiny
In 1851 one newspaper, the Kanesville Frontier Guardian, reported letters from Mormons
and Gentiles in “almost every State in the Union” asking for information about making the
overland trip but often newspapers printed tables for distances was scarcely enough detail to be
any value (Unruh, 1979, p. 74). Travelers incorporated images, impressions, and ideas from the
many things they encountered on and along the road and found that what they learned invested
them with the authority of knowledge (Raitz, 1998, p. 364). Those who had made the journey
over the Oregon and California trails assumed that their experiences would be useful to others
and these published accounts of them would be readily marketable (Kroll, 1944, p. 106).
The authors of the various guidebooks, most of who had made the trip themselves, (Unruh,
1979) had similar things in common, an appendix or as the main body of the book a table of
distances accompanied by a running commentary on the character of the road, the most suitable
camp sites, the presence or absence of the all-important wood, water, and grass, noting any
available short cuts or alternate routes, the fords of rivers (Kroll, 1994, p. 104). According to
Helen B. Kroll’s article titled The Books that Enlightened the Emigrants (1944) few of the books
used as guides to the western territories from 1845 to 1865 were preserved and although they
were produced in great numbers during this time it is believed that the first to vanish were the
best and most useful guides since they were paper bound and being carried, handled, and quickly
wearing them out (p.106).
Many of the westward travelers were writers who documented a vast array of diverse
information about their journeys recording miscellaneous notes on everything from the use of
buffalo chips for fuel to important landmarks along the way. No one knew what hardships,
dangers, or diseases they would encounter on their journey into a vast and unknown wilderness
and the guidebook became increasingly popular and one the most valuable resources for anyone
traveling west. Guide books became a “field ripe for exploitation by means of “how” books and
amateur investigators turned themselves into professional advisors and earnest promoters put
into print their persuasive arguments for one or another of the routes to, or locations on, the
Pacific Coast (Kroll, 1944, pp. 105).” This made a reliable road guide critical to survival for
westward traveling emigrants such as miners and their mule pack trains, oxen driven wagon
trains with families, and for John Mullan, writing a reliable itinerary guide for traveling
emigrants in the North Pacific region which could mean the difference between life and death.
In John R. Unruh Jr.’s (1979) scholarly and comprehensive study of the Oregon-California
migrations published in his book “The Plains Across” writes that overland migration caught the
nation by surprise and for a number of years the press coverage was both fanciful and overdrawn
(p.57). One example provided by Unruh (1979) in the mid 1840’s was the St. Joseph’s
newspaper warning emigrants against changing routes after they had begun their journey unless
they were certain of the new routes proven practicality after being prompted by reports of deaths
due to Indians and starvation (p.57) in which the newspaper blamed on a few “heartless
spectators” in order to prevent the repetitions of the Donner disaster. It can be assumed that John
Mullan was most familiar and aware of these events and stories that resulted from the inaccuracy
of poorly written traveler’s guides used prior to his own published guide. This is evident in his
meticulous and accurate mile by mile descriptions in his guide and is indicative of his understanding of having
information about their journeys recording miscellaneous notes on everything from the use of
buffalo chips for fuel to important landmarks along the way. No one knew what hardships,
dangers, or diseases they would encounter on their journey into a vast and unknown wilderness
and the guidebook became increasingly popular and one the most valuable resources for anyone
traveling west. Guide books became a “field ripe for exploitation by means of “how” books and
amateur investigators turned themselves into professional advisors and earnest promoters put
into print their persuasive arguments for one or another of the routes to, or locations on, the
Pacific Coast (Kroll, 1944, pp. 105).” This made a reliable road guide critical to survival for
westward traveling emigrants such as miners and their mule pack trains, oxen driven wagon
trains with families, and for John Mullan, writing a reliable itinerary guide for traveling
emigrants in the North Pacific region which could mean the difference between life and death.
In John R. Unruh Jr.’s (1979) scholarly and comprehensive study of the Oregon-California
migrations published in his book “The Plains Across” writes that overland migration caught the
nation by surprise and for a number of years the press coverage was both fanciful and overdrawn
(p.57). One example provided by Unruh (1979) in the mid 1840’s was the St. Joseph’s
newspaper warning emigrants against changing routes after they had begun their journey unless
they were certain of the new routes proven practicality after being prompted by reports of deaths
due to Indians and starvation (p.57) in which the newspaper blamed on a few “heartless
spectators” in order to prevent the repetitions of the Donner disaster. It can be assumed that John
Mullan was most familiar and aware of these events and stories that resulted from the inaccuracy
of poorly written traveler’s guides used prior to his own published guide. This is evident in his
meticulous and accurate mile by mile descriptions in his guide and is indicative of his understanding of having
and writing an accurate and reliable traveler’s guide people coulddepend on.
Manifest Destiny motivated the creation of the traveler’s guides and the traveler’s guide
instilled Manifest Destiny into the hearts of many. Many times the traveler’s guides were created
by compiling different pieces of information from an assortment of sources. This is certainly true
of John Mullan’s traveling guide when a year after its publication in 1865, one author quoted
word for word sections of his guide without acknowledgement one year later in his book titled
“Route to the Northwest.” Interestingly, Helen Kroll (1944) uses this author, Edward Hepple
Hall, as one of her example emphasizing the point that “this is not said to discredit the usefulness
of such a compilation (p. 106).”
“His lack of scruple is illustrated in his section on the “Route to the Northwest” which he
apparently copied verbatim from John Mullan’s guide without any specific
acknowledgment whatsoever. This is just one passage; doubtless if one were to go through
the principal sources he could, in such a guide as Hall’s, identify nearly every paragraph as
lifted bodily from other publications or newspaper articles. This is not said to discredit the
usefulness of such a compilation; the settler was not looking for a literary masterpiece but
for facts if he could get them, and from a pragmatic standpoint a book combining the
experience of many people might be more useful than the pro duct of one person’s
judgment. Joseph Ware’s guide depends so heavily on Fremont’s reports that it may be said
to be merely a condensation of the most pertinent information relating to the route
contained in them, but even as such it was unquestionably valuable. These two examples
indicate that the authors of these guides appropriated whatever information was available
and seemed suitable for their purpose (Kroll, 1944, p. 106).”
instilled Manifest Destiny into the hearts of many. Many times the traveler’s guides were created
by compiling different pieces of information from an assortment of sources. This is certainly true
of John Mullan’s traveling guide when a year after its publication in 1865, one author quoted
word for word sections of his guide without acknowledgement one year later in his book titled
“Route to the Northwest.” Interestingly, Helen Kroll (1944) uses this author, Edward Hepple
Hall, as one of her example emphasizing the point that “this is not said to discredit the usefulness
of such a compilation (p. 106).”
“His lack of scruple is illustrated in his section on the “Route to the Northwest” which he
apparently copied verbatim from John Mullan’s guide without any specific
acknowledgment whatsoever. This is just one passage; doubtless if one were to go through
the principal sources he could, in such a guide as Hall’s, identify nearly every paragraph as
lifted bodily from other publications or newspaper articles. This is not said to discredit the
usefulness of such a compilation; the settler was not looking for a literary masterpiece but
for facts if he could get them, and from a pragmatic standpoint a book combining the
experience of many people might be more useful than the pro duct of one person’s
judgment. Joseph Ware’s guide depends so heavily on Fremont’s reports that it may be said
to be merely a condensation of the most pertinent information relating to the route
contained in them, but even as such it was unquestionably valuable. These two examples
indicate that the authors of these guides appropriated whatever information was available
and seemed suitable for their purpose (Kroll, 1944, p. 106).”
Moreover, Helen Kroll (1944) writes that John Mullan did likewise and used and applied
these same methods in his own guide stating in her author notes “that Mullan gives the most
explicit advice on this score, though it is reiterated in most of the guides: “Never maltreat them
(your animals), but govern them as you would a woman, with kindness, affection, and caresses,
and you will be re paid by and you will be re paid by their docility and easy management
(p.108).” It is evident that John Mullan included valuable resources in his writings much the
same as Hall and Fremont did also, collecting the best information and sources to produce an
accurate and reliable guide but with the exception of citing their sources. However, with a few
small exceptions, John Mullan’s accurate guide was meticulously measured out and documented
by himself during his expedition making his guide exceptionally dependable.
these same methods in his own guide stating in her author notes “that Mullan gives the most
explicit advice on this score, though it is reiterated in most of the guides: “Never maltreat them
(your animals), but govern them as you would a woman, with kindness, affection, and caresses,
and you will be re paid by and you will be re paid by their docility and easy management
(p.108).” It is evident that John Mullan included valuable resources in his writings much the
same as Hall and Fremont did also, collecting the best information and sources to produce an
accurate and reliable guide but with the exception of citing their sources. However, with a few
small exceptions, John Mullan’s accurate guide was meticulously measured out and documented
by himself during his expedition making his guide exceptionally dependable.
Historical Background
It was in discovering the West for the first time while surveying for a railroad line that John
Mullan realized the potential and need for American settlement and Manifest Destiny began to
take root in the heart of John Mullan. By 1863 John Mullan’s full report to the War Department
detailing his four year expedition in the north Pacific region stressed the importance of creating
wagon road lines outside of the goals of surveying for only a northern Pacific Railroad line in
which he included a completed detailed road itinerary guide (Mullan Report, 1863, p. 1, 37).
Mullan earnestly writes that alongside the detailed surveys and time to complete exploration of
the entire north Pacific, the most essential aids in advance would be a good wagon-road line
(Mullan Report, p. 3). Creating a road first would aid and advance the needed exploration for
future surveys and encourage settlement in this vast and slightly explored region.
In his report Mullan stresses the point for the need to look beyond the single goal of
commissioning surveys for Railroad lines and begin the task of building wagon roads as he
himself had quickly discovered when “the spirit of his own work on the expedition was reduced
to exploring the country for practical wagon road locations (Mullan Report, p. 3).” Instead of
time being spent discovering, surveying and mapping the region for which he had been trained
and commissioned to do, much of his time was spent laboriously clearing forest, building
bridges, and making roads so that he could survey, measure, and document the region. In order
for a further and deeper exploration to take place, Mullan realized building a wagon road line
first was essential and would aid in the construction of the railroad lines but more importantly, a
wagon road line would aid in the development of this region that the geographer had previously
pointed out as a fruitful field for development and emphasizing that it was most worthy of further
and continued detailed examination having already created a special field of study beyond the
surveying of railroad lines (Mullan Report, p. 3). Clearly, expressing the importance of this need
became a source of anxiety and frustration for Mullan in much the same manner as it did for
Thomas Jefferson eighty years earlier.
commissioning surveys for Railroad lines and begin the task of building wagon roads as he
himself had quickly discovered when “the spirit of his own work on the expedition was reduced
to exploring the country for practical wagon road locations (Mullan Report, p. 3).” Instead of
time being spent discovering, surveying and mapping the region for which he had been trained
and commissioned to do, much of his time was spent laboriously clearing forest, building
bridges, and making roads so that he could survey, measure, and document the region. In order
for a further and deeper exploration to take place, Mullan realized building a wagon road line
first was essential and would aid in the construction of the railroad lines but more importantly, a
wagon road line would aid in the development of this region that the geographer had previously
pointed out as a fruitful field for development and emphasizing that it was most worthy of further
and continued detailed examination having already created a special field of study beyond the
surveying of railroad lines (Mullan Report, p. 3). Clearly, expressing the importance of this need
became a source of anxiety and frustration for Mullan in much the same manner as it did for
Thomas Jefferson eighty years earlier.
Development at this time became of the utmost importance to those few who had ventured
into the west and Mullan realized this also while exploring “practical wagon road locations
(Mullan Report, p. 3).” Although Manifest Destiny includes a large variety of notions, meanings,
and interpretations to different people, there were reasons for its importance when it came to
road building in early America and during Mullan’s time. Manifest Destiny, for the purpose of
this paper, was the idea that a new nation such as the United States must expand until it fills up
certain geographical limits such as the American continent from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific
Ocean (Erickson, 1994, p. 47) but for good reason and no one understood this more than Thomas
Jefferson.
As early as 1783, seven years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas
Jefferson continued in his fascination with what might be found in the West trying
unsuccessfully to interest George Rogers Clark (brother to William Clark) to undertake the
expedition, however, ten years later in 1793 and before his presidency, Jefferson was able to get
approval from the American Philosophical Society for an expedition up the Missouri led by
French botanist, Andre Michaux (Hayes, 2004, p. 142). Jefferson wrote his instructions and
objective, “to find the shortest and most convenient route of communication between the U.S.
and the Pacific Ocean” (Hayes, 2004) but this never occurred because Michaux at this time was
suspected of being a spy (p. 142). Finding a route by land to the Pacific was an ever pressing
concern of Jefferson’s especially after reading Alexander Mackenzie’s book in 1802 advocating
the North West Company, (British) and commercial establishments on the West Coast (Hayes,
2004, p. 142). But not everyone shared this concern and Manifest Destiny stirred only in the
hearts of a few.
Once Jefferson became president he was in a position to make things happen and did so after
he had doubled the size of the United States through the Louisiana Purchase, 800,000 square
miles of land between the Mississippi and the Rockies, and a good time to ask Congress to fund
the known Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804 (Hayes, 2004; McLynn, 2002, p. 6). In spite of
the Lewis and Clark expedition much of the West remained unexplored while the British and
Hudson Fur Company relied on the remote wilderness of mountains and Indians to hold back
American settlement (McLynn, 2002, p. 6). Likewise, Dr. John McLoughlin, chief Hudson’s
Bay Company factor at Fort Vancouver, was quoted as commenting to an American minister that
American emigrants might as well “undertake to go to the moon” as to travel overland to Oregon
(as cited by Unruh, 1979, p. 31) even though McLoughlin is also known to have welcomed and
help many who were determined and bent on settlement (Kimerling, 2003, p. 16).
The northwest continued to be mainly unexplored for years after the Lewis and Clark
expedition and it was as if the ideals of Manifest Destiny slumbered. In 1831, twenty two years
before Mullan’s expedition, President Andrew Jackson answered a resolution of the Senate in
relation to the British establishments on the Columbia and the state of the Fur Trade & Company
stating,
(as cited by Unruh, 1979, p. 31) even though McLoughlin is also known to have welcomed and
help many who were determined and bent on settlement (Kimerling, 2003, p. 16).
The northwest continued to be mainly unexplored for years after the Lewis and Clark
expedition and it was as if the ideals of Manifest Destiny slumbered. In 1831, twenty two years
before Mullan’s expedition, President Andrew Jackson answered a resolution of the Senate in
relation to the British establishments on the Columbia and the state of the Fur Trade & Company
stating,
“The Rocky mountains are deemed by many to be impassable, and to present the barrier
which will arrest the westward march of the American population. The man must know but
little of the American people who supposes they can be stopped by anything in the shape of
mountains, deserts, seas, or rivers” (Andrew Jackson, 1831; Message from the President of
the United States, in answer to a resolution of the senate relative to the British
establishments on the Columbia, and the state of the fur trade &c. Washington: 1831, First
edition xF592 U5 1831).
Up until the 1830’s the only other significant white American presence west of the
Mississippi (excluding Texas) and apart from fur trading mountain men was that of a few
missionaries (McLynn, 2002, p. 7) yet even after the emigration to California and Oregon had
begun fewer than 20,000 whites lived west of the Mississippi by 1845, again with the exclusion
of Texas. Although mountain men made their living by trapping fur it abruptly came to an end
and by 1840 they had all but exterminated the beaver causing mountain men (fur trappers) to
seek new employment as guides to emigrant wagon trains they themselves had pioneered
(McLynn, 2002) also bringing letters and travelers’ tales from California to Oregon that acted as
transmission belts in spreading knowledge about the West (p. 7). In this fashion, Manifest
Destiny played an important ideological support for pioneers venturing West (McLynn, 2002, p.
10) and this ideal clearly became more apparent to Mullan as he experienced the West for the
first time forever changing his vision and developing one very strong conviction…the necessity
to build a wagon road line for purposes other than a railroad line.
Destiny played an important ideological support for pioneers venturing West (McLynn, 2002, p.
10) and this ideal clearly became more apparent to Mullan as he experienced the West for the
first time forever changing his vision and developing one very strong conviction…the necessity
to build a wagon road line for purposes other than a railroad line.
The Effect of Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny has come to mean a variety of definitions to different people, however,
during the 19 th century Manifest Destiny was needed to inspire a new nation to spread out onto
the American continent. Manifest Destiny has both positive and negative meanings depending on
how one views history and from what perspective. In the most general of meanings and
according to Wikipedia, “Manifest Destiny” was a widely held belief in the United States that
American settlers were destined to expand throughout the continent and Historians have for the
most part agreed that there are three basic themes to Manifest Destiny:
The special virtues of the American people and their institutions;
America’s mission to redeem and remake the west in the image of agrarian America;
An irresistible destiny to accomplish this essential duty to a general consensus (Manifest
destiny, 2015, In Wikipedia).”
Throughout Mullan’s Report and in his travelers guide all three elements of Manifest Destiny
as defined above are noticeably present in his writings as the leading spirit behind early
American traveler’s guides. One example of this is clearly seen in Mullan’s Report (1863)
explaining to the War Department why his wagon road line was of the utmost importance giving
one narrative of the emigrants he met while on his march to Walla Walla.
“All these emigrants were a very proper class of persons, mostly from the western States,
where the civil troubles had caused a number to look towards the Pacific in quest of new
homes. They had made the journey on steamers and had purchased their land outfit at Fort
Benton that had caused a number of them to look towards the Pacific in quest of new
homes and were journeying safely and pleasantly toward the setting sun. The safe passage
of these emigrants during this season proves the value of this line for emigrant purpose and
will yet cause it to stand out in competition with other lines across the continent (p. 36).”
Although John Mullan experienced much the same dilemma that Thomas Jefferson found
himself concerning the push towards a land route through the Pacific Northwest, John Mullan
turned in thorough, meticulous report, but most importantly, the itinerary section of his report
was turned into a reliable day by day itinerary guide for travelers using his route from Fort
Benton, Montana, and through the mountains to Walla Walla in Washington territory. Similarly,
just as Thomas Jefferson had become more concerned about American discovery in the West
after reading Alexander Mackenzie’s book in 1802 advocating the North West Company,
(British) and the commercial establishments on the West Coast (Hayes, 2004, p. 142), so also did
Mullan worry about the British and Russia. In Helen Kroll’s (1944) endnotes and annotations for
her article titled The Books that Enlightened the Emigrants she states part of the following
observations,
where the civil troubles had caused a number to look towards the Pacific in quest of new
homes. They had made the journey on steamers and had purchased their land outfit at Fort
Benton that had caused a number of them to look towards the Pacific in quest of new
homes and were journeying safely and pleasantly toward the setting sun. The safe passage
of these emigrants during this season proves the value of this line for emigrant purpose and
will yet cause it to stand out in competition with other lines across the continent (p. 36).”
Although John Mullan experienced much the same dilemma that Thomas Jefferson found
himself concerning the push towards a land route through the Pacific Northwest, John Mullan
turned in thorough, meticulous report, but most importantly, the itinerary section of his report
was turned into a reliable day by day itinerary guide for travelers using his route from Fort
Benton, Montana, and through the mountains to Walla Walla in Washington territory. Similarly,
just as Thomas Jefferson had become more concerned about American discovery in the West
after reading Alexander Mackenzie’s book in 1802 advocating the North West Company,
(British) and the commercial establishments on the West Coast (Hayes, 2004, p. 142), so also did
Mullan worry about the British and Russia. In Helen Kroll’s (1944) endnotes and annotations for
her article titled The Books that Enlightened the Emigrants she states part of the following
observations,
“John Mullan built his road from Fort Benton to Wallula in 1858-63, but it was never
extensively traveled, being through very difficult country, and consequently a very difficult
road. Mullan emphasized the possibilities of the Rocky Mountain country and the treeless
lands of the Inland Empire for cattle and sheep, and provided much information on the
mining development of the Rockies and their western spurs. Mullan proposed to trade the
southern states to Great Britain for the Canadian wheat belt, foreseeing the dominance of
wheat in the Canadian prairie economy, and predicting that Canada-“this territorial
sandwich” would soon be swallowed up by either Russia or America (p. 121).
wheat in the Canadian prairie economy, and predicting that Canada-“this territorial
sandwich” would soon be swallowed up by either Russia or America (p. 121).
Considering the time and period in which John Mullan lived one can easily observe how
Manifest Destiny rooted itself in the heart of John Mullan. While many historians and observers
may conclude and portray John Mullan as ambitious, driven, and a greedy man, it is evident that
the urgency at this time to motivate people to discover, build, and populate the western portions
of the United States would require some kind of ideal in order to stir the America people and it
came to be known as Manifest Destiny. Manifest Destiny was an ideal that was big enough to stir
the hearts of the people and it manifested itself in those people who emigrated to the West each
having different reasons and purposes and for many it was not about greed; however, the essence
of Manifest Destiny equipped them with the drive to do it in what appeared too many as bizarre
and impossible. Yet, like John Mullan, it created a drive and this drive produced perseverance
and though many associate Manifest Destiny with greed, we cannot box it when it is evident it
had an assortment of manifestations it produced in people and outcomes.
McLynn (2004) fittingly put it this way, “For the people to leave the comfort of home where
friends, neighbors, and family are and in times of trouble there is help, advice and expertise close
at hand and go where there are no proper maps and savage Indians lurk, and where food is what
you take yourself would take pure grit with the wagon, stock, oxen money, as the only resources
(p.1) appears as incredible and bizarre. Manifest Destiny was awakened and drove the hearts of
those so bold and the American road is one demonstration of its effect. Jean Baudrillard put it
this way,
“The point is to drive. All this creates a new experience of space, and, at the same time, a
new experience of the whole social system. All you need to know about American society
can be gleaned from an anthropology of its driving behavior. Drive ten thousand miles
across America and you will know more about the country than all the institutes of
sociology and political science put together (Jean Baudrillard, America, 1989 as cited by
Raitz, 1998).”
new experience of the whole social system. All you need to know about American society
can be gleaned from an anthropology of its driving behavior. Drive ten thousand miles
across America and you will know more about the country than all the institutes of
sociology and political science put together (Jean Baudrillard, America, 1989 as cited by
Raitz, 1998).”
Today, some may believe that Manifest Destiny slumbers, and that it no longer exists. One has
only to look at Silicon Valley to know that it does. The new frontier, information highway (or
internet), is relatively new and wild and its expansion reaches every continent. And like John
Mullan, has rooted itself in the heart of many people that produce the drive to venture out and
discover. Manifest Destiny gave Mullan the drive he needed to accomplish all that he did and the
outcome was a reliable traveler’s guide that was accurate and dependable.
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Bagley, W. (2010). So rugged and mountainous: Blazing the Oregon and California trails, 1812-
1848. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
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University of Washington Press.
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Washington Women. Morris Book Publishing, LLC.
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Canadian Magazine OF Politics, Science, Art, and Literature, Toronto: Ontario Publishing Co.,
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colorado.com/Colorado-wagon-trains.html
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Wang.
Kimball, S. B. (1995). Mormon emigration trails. Mormon Americana, 406-36.
McConaghy, L. (2011). New Land, North of the Columbia: Historical Documents that tell the
story of Washington State from territory to today. Seattle: Sasquatch Books.
Myres, S. (1982). Westering women and the frontier experience, 1800-1915. Albuquerque:
University of New Mexico Press.
Marcy, R. B. (1988). The prairie traveler. 1859. Reprint.
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Wyoming, and Colorado, via the Missouri and Columbia rivers. New York: WM. M. Franklin.
Ristow, W. (1946, May 1). American Roads and Guides. The Scientific Monthly, Vol.62.5, 397-
406.
Tate, C. (December 06, 2004). Gold in the Pacific Northwest. Retrieved from
http://www.historylink.org/
Tunis, E. (2000). Frontier living: An Illustrated Guide to Pioneer Life in America, including Log
Cabins, Furniture, Tools, Clothing, and More. New York: Lyons Press.