Mullan Road

Mullan Road is an Idaho historical marker in Kootenai County, dedicated 2025.

US-3, milepost 95.83

Get directions ↗Start a road trip Historical trails

In 1858, Schitsu’umsh (Coeur d’Alene) learned Lieutenant John Mullan would build a road through their land. They vowed to stop him. In an Army display of power, Colonel Edward Steptoe marched 158 troops out of Fort Walla Walla. Schitsu’umsh and other warriors routed him at today’s Rosalia, Washington. Later, Colonel George Wright brutally avenged Steptoe’s defeat and forced tribes to accept road construction. Mullan initially built his road nearby in 1859. After it flooded, he charted a different route northwest of here. Completed in 1862, Mullan’s road connected the Missouri and Columbia Rivers. It brought settlers to the Northwest while transforming tribal lifeways.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1856 · Washington And Oregon. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1859 · Department of Oregon. Map of the state of Oregon and Washington Territory (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1861 · Rocky Mountains to Puget Sound. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1927 · Spokane, Seattle. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1981 · St Maries, Idaho (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)

Department of Oregon. Map of the state of Oregon and Washington Territory, 1859, covering the location of Mullan Road, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Department of Oregon. Map of the state of Oregon and Washington Territory, 1859, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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More markers nearby

Joseph Garry (1910-1975)same spot
Saint Joseph Mission (St'uts'te'wes)2 mi
Submerged Valley6 mi
John Mullan (1830-1909) (After the Road)7 mi