page_title: John Mullan (road builder)
section_title: Coeur d'Alene War
hierarchical_section_title: John Mullan (road builder) / Coeur d'Alene War
caption_attribution_description: English: A map showing U.S. Army and enemy movements and engagements during the Battle of Four Lakes and the Battle of Spokane Plains during the Coeur d'Alene War of 1858. Drawn by 1st Lt. John Mullan, USA.
context_page_description: John Mullan Jr. was an American soldier, explorer, civil servant, and road builder. After graduating from the United States Military Academy in 1852, he joined the Northern Pacific Railroad Survey, led by Isaac Stevens. He extensively explored western Montana and portions of southeastern Idaho, discovered Mullan Pass, participated in the Coeur d'Alene War, and led the construction crew which built the Mullan Road in Montana, Idaho, and Washington state between the spring of 1859 and summer of 1860.
  He unsuccessfully sought appointment as Territorial Governor of the new Idaho Territory, although he played a significant role in the territory's formation and the establishment of its boundaries. Leaving the United States Army in April 1863, he failed at several businesses before profiting immensely as a real estate dealer and land attorney in California. At one point, the law firm he co-founded was the largest land speculator in the state. He later became an agent and lobbyist for the states of California, Nevada, and Oregon and for the Washington Territory, securing reimbursements from the federal government.
context_section_description: Mullan believed he could complete the military road by December 1858. Mullan departed New York City on April 5, bound for Panama. After crossing the Isthmus of Panama, he boarded the sidewheel paddle steamer Sonora and arrived in San Francisco on May 1. Traveling by coastal steamer, he reached Fort Dalles on May 15, accompanied by civilian topographical engineers Theodore Kolecki and P.M. Engle. At the fort, Mullan met and employed Gustav Sohon, now a civilian as well. Mullan organized and outfitted a work party of 30 civilians, and began work on the road. They graded the flat prairie and had reached Five-Mile Creek (about 3 miles (4.8 km) from the fort) when word reached Mullan and Colonel George Wright (commander of Fort Dalles) that Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Edward Steptoe had been routed by a group composed primarily of Cayuse, Schitsu'umsh, Spokan, and Yakama warriors at the Battle of Pine Creek (near present-day Rosalia, Washington) on May 17, 1858. The Schitsu'umsh were outraged by miners and illegal white settlers invading their territory. Although their lands were protected by treaty, they perceived the construction of the Mullan Road as a precursor to a land-grab by the United States.
  The Coeur d'Alene War had begun.
  Realizing work on the road could not continue if Native American hostilities were under way, on May 27, Mullan sent word to Steptoe (stationed at Fort Walla Walla) asking for 65 soldiers to escort his road-building crew as they worked toward the Rocky Mountains. While he waited for a reply, Mullan's men bridged Three-Mile Creek and Five-Mile Creek. On May 30, Steptoe responded that he could not fulfill Mullan's request. Mullan was forced to disband his road-building crew, retaining only Kolecki, Sohon, and a few men to care for the horses and mules.
caption: Map by Gustav Sohon showing the Battle of Four Lakes and the Battle of Spokane Plains.
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