U.S. Army Capt. John Mullan, a constructor and surveyor, was directed to mark a wagon and railroad route from Fort Benton, Montana, to Walla Walla, Washington, from 1853 to 1855, and he built the actual road from 1859 to 1862. The original road passed eight miles from here. Portions of the road were used for different purposes: in Montana, it carried supplies to the gold camps, and settlers used its eastern and western portions to reach homestead property. The road had numerous river crossings that required more than 160 bridges, and Mullan eventually revised the route to avoid lowland flooding where it crossed the lower St. Joe Valley. Mullan was aided by many Indian guides, including Bassile, a Schitsu’umsh (Coeur d’Alene) tribal member, and his workforce was usually about 60 men plus 30 to 40 soldiers, including engineers, a physician, carpenters, a blacksmith, teamsters, and laborers.