After the Milwaukee Road abandoned its route over the Bitterroot Mountains, salvage companies stripped the line of rails, ties, signals, posts, and everything else of value, leaving only small fragments of one of America’s proudest railroads. From 1907 to 1911, thousands of people lived, worked, and played in this secluded part of the Bitterroot Mountains as they constructed a railroad while leaving only faint signs of their own passing. Today, archaeologists dig and sift along the Route of the Hiawatha looking for clues about people and places not found in written documents, and historical research together with archaeological field work helps breathe life into the history of the Milwaukee Road years. Artifacts tell a story when they are found in the context in which they were used, and removing or destroying artifacts from the Route of the Hiawatha Trail is illegal in order to preserve the history of the Milwaukee Road for everyone to enjoy.