Timeline of Major EventsDuring the Era of the Mullan Road |
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Event |
Date |
Type of Event |
| Congress authorizes a geographer and surveyor of roads | July 25, 1777 | Act of Congress |
| Coeur d’Alene tribe named by French-speaking trappers | 1790 | ***** |
| Congress establishes the Corps of Artillerists and Engineers | 1794 | Act of Congress |
| Congress increases the size of the Corps of Artillerists and Engineers | 1798 | Act of Congress |
| Congress creates the Corps of Engineers | March 16, 1802 | Act of Congress |
| Congressional Act specifically authorizes topographic engineers | March 3, 1813 | Act of Congress |
| General Joseph G. Swift orders a complete survey of harbor and port fortifications | March 21, 1815 | Military order |
| Hudson Bay Company establishes Fort Colville (then spelled Colvile) | 1827 | Fort construction |
| Fort Benton, Montana, built | 1846 | Fort construction |
| Cayuse War 1847-1850 | ***** | War |
| Mormon Pioneers found Salt Lake City as the first city of Deseret | July 24, 1847 | Town foundation |
| Whitman Massacre | November 29, 1847 | Massacre |
| Plains Wars | 1848-1880s | War |
| Navajo Conflicts | 1849-63 | War |
| Fort Drum (later Fort Dalles) established | May 13, 1850 | Fort construction |
| George McClellan finds gold on the Yakima River | September 1853 | Gold discovery |
| Governor Stevens meets with General George McClellan at Fort Colville | October 1853 | ***** |
| Mullan Expedition crosses Continental Divide six times | October 8, 1853- ? 1854 | Military Road construction |
| Mullan established winter camp at mouth of Willow Creek ten miles south of Fort Owen in Bitterroot Valley | October 8, 1853 | Military Road construction |
| Sioux Wars | 1854-90 | War |
| Angus McDonald discovers gold at Fort Colville | 1854 | Gold discovery |
| Congress appropriates $150,000 to the War Department for Pacific railroad surveys | March 3, 1854 | ***** |
| Grattan Massacre | August 17, 1854 | Massacre |
| Mullan order to Washington D.C. | September 1854 | Military Road construction |
| Mullan reaches Fort Dalles | October 14, 1854 | Military Road construction |
| Yakima War | 1855-58 | War |
| Mullan leaves for Washington D.C. | January 15, 1855 | Military Road construction |
| Congress Appropriates $30,000 for the creation of Camel Corps for the U.S. Army | March 3, 1855 | Act of Congress |
| General Harney given command of an expeditionary force to be led against the Sioux | March 22, 1855 | Military order |
| Isaac Stevens invites Nez Perce and other tribes to a great council in Walla Walla Valley | May 1855 | Council |
| Nez Perce tribe arrives at the meeting area | May 24, 1855 | Council |
| Cayuse tribe arrives at the council | May 26, 1855 | Council |
| Isaac Stevens opens his great council | May 29, 1855 | Council |
| Great council ends with Steven's promise that Indian lands will be secure for two or three years | June 12, 1855 | Council |
| Newspaper article under Stevens' signature announces the Indian lands are open to settlement | June 24, 1855 | Council |
| Generals Harney and Cooke massacre camp of Brule indians on Blue Water Creek, Nebraska | September 3, 1855 | Massacre |
| Union Gap, Battle of | October 5, 1855 | Battle |
| Judge C.E. Irvine and party from Walla Walla Washington Terriority stops at the spot that will become Butte, Montana | 1856 | ***** |
| Seattle, Battle of | January 26, 1856 | Battle |
| Unnamed battle on White River | March 1, 1856 | Battle |
| Eight infantry companies under Colonel George Wright sent to Fort Dalles | March 28, 1856 | Military movement |
| Satus, Battle of the | April 9, 1856 | Battle |
| Big Meadows, Battle of | May 27, 1856 | Battle |
| First Fort Walla Walla established | November 1856 | Fort construction |
| Utah War | March 23, 1857 - June 26, 1858 | War |
| U.S. President James Buchanan declares Utah in rebellion of the U.S. government | June 29, 1857 | Presidential declaration |
| Mountain Meadows Massacre | September 8-12, 1857 | Massacre |
| Brigham Young declares martial law in Utah and forbids entry of U.S. troops | September 15, 1857 | Martial Law Declaration |
| Indian leader Leschi hanged at Fort Steilacoom | February 19, 1858 | Execution |
| Captain Andrew A. Humphreys, in charge of the office of Explorations and Surveys, secures a special assignment for John Mullan | March 15, 1858 | Military Road construction |
| New York newspapers announce the Mullan Road Project | March 31, 1858 | ***** |
| Lieutenant Mullan arrives at Fort Dalles | May 15, 1858 | Military Road construction |
| Steptoe, Battle of | May 16/17, 1858 | Battle |
| Olympia Pioneer and Democrat newspaper reprints announcement of Mullan Road Project | May 21, 1858 | ***** |
| Unnamed battle | June 17, 1858 | Battle |
| Lieutenant Mullan leaves Fort Dalles for Fort Walla Walla | July 16, 1858 | Military Road construction |
| Fort Taylor established at mouth of Tucannon River | August 7, 1858 | Fort construction |
| Colonel Wright and Lieutenant Mullan leave Fort Walla Walla | August 7, 1858 | Military movement |
| Four Lakes, Battle of | September 1, 1858 | Battle |
| Spokane Plains, Battle of | September 5, 1858 | Battle |
| Colonel Wright's Expedition camps on Spokane River | September 6, 1858 | Expedition |
| Colonel Wright orders the slaughter of 700 captured Indian horses | September 9, 1858 | Expedition |
| Peace council at Cataldo Mission with Coeur D'Alene Indians ends the Yakima Indian War | September 17, 1858 | Council |
| Indian Leader Qualchan hung by Colonel Wright near Latah Creek (later known as Hangman Creek) | September 24, 1858 | Execution |
| Six Indians hung by Colonel Wright | September 25, 1858 | Execution |
| Indian leader Owhi killed at Fort Walla Walla while trying to escape | October 4, 1858 | Execution |
| General W.S. Harney, in command of Military Department of Oregon and Washington, proclaims peace restored and the area ready for settlement | October 29, 1858 | ***** |
| Mullan returns to Washington D.C. | December 1858 | Military Road construction |
| Dalles - Great Salt Lake Military Road authorized and initiated | 1859 | Military Road construction |
| General W.S. Harney receives urgent request to provide escorts to parties engaged in surveying the international boundary | February, 1859 | ***** |
| Oregon becomes a state | February 14, 1859 | Statehood |
| Mullan receives orders to complete the military road from Fort Walla Walla to Fort Benton | March 18, 1859 | Military orders |
| Mullan's party leaves Fort Dalles | June 8, 1859 | Military Road construction |
| Mullan departs Fort Walla Walla and actual construction of the military road begins | June 29, 1859 | Military Road construction |
| General W.S. Harney establishes Fort Colville about 14 miles southeast of the Hudson Bay Company post of the same name | Summer ? 1859 | Fort construction |
| Harpers Ferry, Brown's Raid on | October 16 - 18, 1859 | Raid |
| Missoula County created as a part of Washington Territory | 1860 | ***** |
| E.D. Pierce discovers gold on the North Fork of the Clearwater River | February 20, 1860 | Gold discovery |
| Steamer Idaho launched on Columbia River for service between the Cascades and The Dalles during Idaho gold rush | June 9, 1860 | ***** |
| Oregon Steam Navigation Company chartered in Washington Territory | December 29, 1860 | ***** |
| Town of Lewiston, Idaho, founded | 1861 | Town foundation |
| Town of Pierce founded (then in Washington Territory, present-day Idaho) | July 1861 | Town foundation |
| Mullan and his party blaze a tree at a pass east of Coeur d'Alene to celebrate Fourth of July | July 4, 1861 | Military Road construction |
| Gold discovered at Florence, Idaho | August 12, 1861 | Gold discovery |
| Steptoe retires from army after three years on sick leave | November 1, 1861 | Battle |
| Sioux War | 1862-64 | War |
| Florence, Idaho, has 8,000 residents in late June, 1862 | June, 1862 | Miner emigration |
| Florence, Idaho, has 2,000 residents in July, 1862 | July, 1862 | Miner emigration |
| Gold discovered on Grasshopper Creek at Bannack, Montana | July 28, 1862 | ***** |
| Captain Mullan receives a promotion with the date of rank being the date of the completion of the Mullan Road | August 11, 1862 | Military Road construction |
| Captain Mullan disbands his Expedition | September 11, 1862 | Military Road construction |
| Bear River, Battle of | January 29, 1863 | Battle |
| Captain Mullan presents his Report on the Construction of a Military Road from Fort Walla-Walla to Fort Benton to the Topographical Bureau in Washington D.C. | February 14, 1863 | Military Road construction |
| President Abraham Lincoln signed an act creating Idaho Territory | March 4, 1863 | ***** |
| Gold found near Alder Creek, Montana | May 26, 1863 | ***** |
| Cheyenne and Arapaho War | 1864-68 | War |
| Idaho County established with its county seat at Florence | February 4, 1864 | ***** |
| Montana Territory created | May 26, 1864 | Territorial establishment |
| Missoula County created as a part of Montana Territory | 1865 | ***** |
| The firm of Worden and Company erects a sawmill at the site of Missoula, Montana | Winter of 1864-65 | ***** |
| Sioux War | 1865-68 | War |
| Ute War | 1865-68 | War |
| Fort Dalles abandoned | August 1866 | Fort abandonment |
| Fetterman Massacre | December 21, 1866 | Massacre |
| Wagon Box Fight | August 2, 1867 | Battle |
| Modocs, Campaign against | 1872-73 | War |
| North Fork of the Red River, Battle of | September 29, 1872 | Battle |
| Lost River, Battle of | November 29, 1872 | Battle |
| Hanging of Captain Jack, Boston Charley, Black Jim, and Schonchin John at Fort Klamath | October 3, 1873 | Execution |
| Camp Coeur d'Alene (Fort Sherman) established | 1877 | Fort construction |
| Nez Percé War | 1877 | War |
| Whitebird Canyon, Battle of | June 17, 1877 | Battle |
| Clearwater, Battle of | July 11/12, 1877 | Battle |
| Big Hole, Battle of | August 9/10, 1877 | Battle |
| Camas Creek, Battle of | August 20, 1877 | Battle |
| Canyon Creek, Battle of | September 13, 1877 | Battle |
| Cow Island, Battle of | September 23, 1877 | Battle |
| Surrender of Nez Percé in Bear Paw Mountains of Montana | October 5, 1877 | Surrender |
| Bannocks, Campaign against | 1878 | War |
| Fort Missoula built in order to restore the Mullan Road | Summer 1878 | Fort construction |
| A detachment from Fort Missoula captures last band of Nez Percé | July 21, 1878 | Surrender |
| Soldiers from Fort Missoula begin the project to restore the Mullan Road | Summer 1879 | Military road construction |
| Montana becomes a state | November 8, 1889 | Statehood |
| Washington becomes a state | November 11, 1889 | Statehood |
| Idaho becomes a state | July 3, 1890 | Statehood |
Mullan Road Contruction Timeline:
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