| 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 |
